2004-11-15

My Hero!

Mr. Sherman Alexie, recipient of the PEN/Hemingway Award, a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian and a man hailed as one of the best young writers of his generation, is my hero. The New Yorker named him one of the top 20 writers for the 21st Century and he has earned this title with his prolific, insightful and powerfully emotional prose. As a poet, he is the first four-time World Heavyweight Championship Poetry Bout winner. This is not just writer resume blah blah. These are secret hero ingredients. But he’s not just my hero. He is also the hero of a gaggle of people in the Milwaukee area. From a geeky reservation kid that developed a sense of humor to keep the bigger kids from beating the crap out of him, he grew into a college-educated, award-winning geeky man.

Humor was abundant on the reservation where he grew up, he says. He turned to humor because he was different and got beat up a lot. "You can't run as fast or throw a punch if you're laughing," he said.

And the more traditional the person on the reservation, the funnier they were, he says. "My grandmother was hilarious. My whole family was funny. I was the least funny. My family thought I was depressed and angry. "


I first saw Mr. Alexie at the University of Wisonsin-Milwaukee in 2002. The auditorium was packed for his lecture: "Killing Indians: Myths, Lies and Exaggerations." I didn't know what to expect as my sister and I sat down with a diverse crowd numbering over a thosand. What we got was mostly humor but a few lessons that hurt to the quick.

"People want us to be the K-mart of spirituality. I don't talk about religion . . . You really shouldn't have a dream catcher in your car while your driving. And you don't have to wear Indian jewelry when you come to hear me talk. I'm going to like you because you came."

The talk turns somber when he talks poignantly about the birth of his son, now 5, who nearly died at birth and who has been left with some disabilities.

"Everything we believed of in the world was shaking and falling apart," he says. "We began a lawsuit against the hospital because we believed there was negligence, but we stopped it.

"The lawsuit would tell our son we didn't want him the way he is. It would have said we're not capable of forgiveness and that those people in the room were inherently evil. It would have said we were morally superior. It would have been all about our hatred. We let it go."

The lesson, he says, is this: "We're all wrong almost all of the time."

When I walked from the campus that night, I felt changed. My mind was swimming and my heart was filled to bursting. No event since then has moved me as much.

On Wednesday, July 9, 2003, Schwartz’s Bookstore was packed with over 300 sweating bodies all gathered round to watch this beautiful brown man. The book tour brings with it the ban of Mr Alexie’s existence; airport security. As a black haired, dark skinned man, security finds him very attractive. He has taken to packing everything in his suitcase in their own individual containers to speed the search process. After unpacking and re-packing his suitcases in almost every airport he goes through, Mr. Alexie is often complimented on his packing by the relieved security. “I do it all for you…” he responds coyly.


He read ‘Lawyer’s League’, from his new collection of short stories called Ten Little Indians , and had the whole crowd eating out of his hands. The momentum rose as he read and everyone in the audience leaned forward as one to capture every word he spoke. The story is one of my favorites in the collection and the darkly ironic humor of it wound us up. After the applause died down and the crowd settled pack into watchful bliss, he began to speak extemporaneously. He was funny as hell, politically savvy, yet ultimately snotty to both parties. He is a non-partisan asshole.

He pointed out George W’s father issues, something that was brought home for him as he watched our nation’s president stride the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in his flight suit. Alexie spoke of his envy at how good George looked in the flight suit and then asked about what George Jr. must have been thinking about as he walked the length of the carrier. “Daddy,” Alexie said in a tiny voice “mine is bigger than yours!”

His acid tongue leaves no subject exempt but underneath is a hard won wisdom and an honest desire for a better world. “As a reluctant role model, I can only advocate for two things for any youth: stay sober because you'll die young if you don't, and question all authority figures because they're usually seeking to protect their power.”

Mr. Alexie is as avid in his love of American pop culture as he is conscious of his native roots. He rails against the common stereotypes of Native Americans but has a passion for movies, music and mystery novels. He is a huge fan of Dennis Lehane. His simple philosophy that men that cross streams as they urinate together will never go to war and how he had intestinal flu when he was on Oprah had the crowd in hysterics. I may never eat cantaloupe again.

The crowd, made of all creeds, colors, financial backgrounds and ages, was enthralled. Entranced by the rantings and brutal honesty of this wonderful man, I had a feeling while I knelt in the midst of those people I have very rarely felt. I had a feeling of total unity with those people. That, at that point in time, we were all truly together, sharing the joys, frustrations, passions and sorrows of the man behind the podium. At certain points, people were literally doubled over with laughter. There were moments of complete silence as Alexie shared the pain of his father’s death and when he recalled the death of an Indian on his reservation. The man, drunk out of his mind, had fallen and drown in a puddle of water 2 inches deep. And, with all that he has seen and experienced, Alexie is still full of hope for this world and it’s people. All of its people.

When Alexie said he had only one more story to tell and then he had to go, the entire audience went, “Aaaawwwwww…………” like a bunch of spoiled kids. He looked at us, smiled wryly, and said, “I don’t believe you.” But he made that last story a long one. When he was done, he received a standing ovation. The crowd dispersed throughout the bookstore, waiting for our letter lots to come up for the book signing. When I approached Alexie with my book stack he looked exhausted, but happy. Again, as was the case the last time I saw him, when asked to sign and date my books, he had to ask the date. For each book. Poor man… I adore him.

“Being a good performer is part of being a writer. And those writers who aren’t good performers, and who sort of make it a point of pride to be introverted, boring assholes, are denying themselves a huge part of the culture and tradition.” Alexie said in a The Phoenix.com interview. I don’t think Sherman Alexie is missing a thing. He is the only person walking this earth right now that I would actually say is my hero in the true sense of the word. And I’m willing to share.

2 comments:

Naomi Hirahara said...

My husband Wes is in love with Sherman Alexie, and I think that Alexie's pretty cool, too. We were first introduced to him through "Smoke Signals," a wonderful movie--aside from Adam Beach's wig. Now we have practically all of his books--including the poetry collections--and Wes has taught "Indian Killer" to his high school English students. We even have a video of the Poetry Bout, Alexie vs. Jimmy Santiago Baca. We try to catch every reading he does in L.A. At one L.A. Times Festival of Books, he was on a panel with writer Percival Everett. Alexie seems very keen on Everett's work, and has even optioned one of Everett's books for a movie, I think. What amazes me is how Alexie can make fun of the core of his fan base--people who wear dream catcher earrings, etc.--and they are not turned off. That just speaks to his charm and the power of his public persona. Hadn't heard about his son's disabilities. Very poignant.

Jen Jordan said...

Oh, that video's got to be wonderful! I envy you!

I'm still amazed at his willingness to share personal tragedy. When he says that none of us are right all of the time and that, essentially, we are all prejudice, he isn't absolving anyone, but he instead seeks to humanize all of our actions and thoughts.

And I don't think I've ever seen a funnier man.