Current mood: inspired

"I was a superstar at 14 and a has-been by 16. I had a brief fling with fame again when I was 24, but obscurity beckoned me once more. But like I told my agent back then, I want a small career, big life."
These were among the first words Janis Ian said when I met her last night.
The 60s folk music icon sat cross legged on a table telling her life story to a bunch of riveted fans. Nobody moved. Nobody scratched, coughed or fidgeted. It was like witnessing the Second Coming.
I am on the committee of my local library's Distinguished Speaker Series and since our small group came on board in January, we've shaken things loose and found some wonderful authors to participate in these monthly events. Earlier in the year we had former child star Jon Provost who came to discuss his book Timmy's in the Well. Jon was a doll, more interesting for what he didn't say than what he did. He didn't say much because his wife completely took over and answered every question for him…
Last month, we scored a major coup in luring the reclusive but reigning queen of crime, best selling author Faye Kellerman. Our selling point? The library. We found the same thing when approaching Janis Ian. We hardly dared hope we could get her since she is in the middle of a whirlwind tour promoting her new autobiography, Society's Child. What we have found is authors, I mean major literary talents willing to come to the library and talk to relatively small but packed audiences about their work. And it is a beautiful thing to see.
It took some doing getting into Janis' schedule and she arrived with a bad cold but after I ran through a mike check with her, I took her, her partner Jan and road manager Deborah to a small private room so they could relax.
This was all prearranged but they didn't do much relaxing. Between setting up their table to sell her book and accompanying CD, Janis demanded to know where the Library Donation jar was. We all looked at each other. Within seconds, she'd whipped out a jar she carries with her to all her library events and plonked it on the refreshment table.
The audience drifted in. The scent of patchouli, the moon in the seventh house and Jupiter's alignment with Mars were there in spirit with the oldest living hippies in the universe pouring in.
What I find fascinating with each new author is the caliber of their fans.
Last night, Janis Ian, a gentle, diminutive pixie of a thing found people who wanted to know how a 14 year old could have had such searing thoughts on things like interracial love, atomic war, prostitution. They wanted to know where she got her inspiration for her biggest hits, like At Seventeen and Society's Child. Within minutes, I knew we had a group of people who are simply in love with words.
I'd like to share with you some of the highlights:

On writing her autobiography: The first time I was asked to write it, I was sixteen. I thought it was ridiculous. My agent said, 'Listen girlie, lesbians won't be hot forever!' The second time I was asked, I was 56. I am now 57. I called 20 best selling writers and they each told me something different. But I have been writing since I was 9. That's how old I was when I started keeping my first journal.
I had no idea where to start. So I listened to one friend who told me to Google my name. I did. Almost nothing about me was true. I spent three months Googling Janis Ian. I even read that I was dead! I would go to bed at night, hardly able to wait until I woke up in the morning to read what interesting things I'd been doing the night before. Then, I forgot about all the research and I just wrote.

On Sex: I was worried because when people write their autobiography, they write about sex. They write about who they slept with, why they slept with them, would they sleep with them again, was it any good when you slept with them in the first place…but I haven't slept with anyone interesting or famous. My lawyer said, 'make it up' and I did think about saying I had sex with a Kennedy. I mean most of them are dead so they can't deny it. Of course, I didn't do it.
On writing Society's Child: [this was one of the first questions she was asked. Janis wrote this iconic song as a teenager. Here are some of the lyrics]

ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GONNA STOP MY LISTENING
GONNA RAISE MY HEAD UP HIGH
ONE OF THESE DAYS I'M GONNA RAISE UP
MY GLISTENING WINGS AND FLY
BUT THAT DAY WILL HAVE TO WAIT FOR A WHILE
BABY, I'M ONLY SOCIETY'S CHILD

I got the inspiration for this song on the bus. I grew up in Orange, New Jersey. We were a Jewish family in a black neighborhood. There was a black and white couple, only a year older than me and they were sitting on the bus, ignoring the glares. I thought at the time it was horrible. You should be able to love who you want to love. Now as I am older I do understand why black parents don't their children to fall in love with white people and vice versa. You don't want your kids to struggle, to face that kind of bigotry. Incidentally, my mom didn't care who I married as long as they were Jewish. They could be black, white, male, female, just as long as they were Jewish.

On Being 57: Once you get to 50, honestly you have to ask, what else can you do to me? I've seen it all. I've lived a full life. But I write. What I want to do when the touring is over and I am back home with my partner and my two dogs is write. A writer writes. You just do it.
[Janis Ian glanced at the cover of her book and the smile on her face was wistful]
So that's my book. I hope I've done my songs justice.
You have Janis, you have.

Aloha oe.
A.J.

PS. Janis Ian's donation jar brought us $75.63 and her personal donation from proceeds of her sales brought us another $78. All of this will be used to purchase books and DVDs for our library and to fund our children's prorams.
She also donated two books and two CD's. She asked us if we wanted them autographed but her partner quickly nixed the idea saying that patrons would steal them.
Me, I got to hug Janis Ian goodbye last night. I hope some of that woman's grace and grit rub off on me, even if she does have a cold.

Currently listening : Best of Janis Ian: The Autobiography Collection By Janis Ian Release date: 2008-07-22