Archive for January, 2009

Rumpole Creator, John Mortimer, Dead at 85

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

I was very saddened to read that Rumpole creator John Mortimer died. Not only am I a fan of his books, but I had the pleasure of meeting, interviewing, and profiling John Mortimer for British Heritage Magazine back in 1996 … not to mention sharing champagne with him while we chatted.

Needless to say, I sipped very slowly.

We spoke about everything from feminism and God to computers and murderers. Here are some excerpts from my Mortimer profile:

Judges, according to Mortimer, “take themselves too seriously,” while prisons are a “university of crime.” Mortimer speaks from experience; he earned considerable acclaim as a barrister, especially for his successful defenses in censorship cases. He also represented many divorce clients and accused murderers during his barrister years. According to Mortimer, he much preferred the murderers.

I asked Mortimer which was more difficult to write, comedy or tragedy. “Comedy,” he answered without hesitation. “It is very easy to make people cry, be sad, be miserable. Farce is an incredibly difficult genre. Comedy requires enormous imagination. There are quite a lot of great tragedies, and there aren’t many great comedies.”

Mortimer was equally emphatic about the relative difficulties of his two careers. “Writing is much, much harder than being a lawyer. If you’re a lawyer you can rattle on doing things other people can do. If you’re a writer, you’ve got to do something which nobody else can do. Except writing has less disastrous results. If you write a bad book, no one goes to prison, which is rather a relief.”

Mortimer appears to relish making comments that would tend to provoke a rise, or at least a laugh. Indeed, he laughs easily and often, a condition I found quite contagious. When asked if it’s possible for men and women to communicate without gender getting in the way, he said, laughing, “No. Thank God for it. Vive La Difference.” He added with another chuckle, “I think women don’t want to be sex objects, but I’d love to be a sex object. My own ambition is to be loved only for my body.”

Mortimer, like Rumpole, enjoys making fun of feminists. Yet I sensed that behind his flippant love-me-for-my-body remark was a man who, again like Rumpole, measures women when it matters on merit alone. I suggested that while many women enjoy being sex objects, they don’t want gender to interfere with their careers. “Absolutely,” Mortimer responded, “and so it shouldn’t.”

You can read my entire John Mortimer interview here.

(Cross-posted on my Political Madness Blog)

Wall Street Journal Profiles Financial Poets … Including Me

Monday, January 12th, 2009

Mary Pilon, of the Wall Street Journal, wrote a delightful article about financial poetry entitled Fannie, Freddie, Bear & Hard Times: Wall Street’s Collapse, Told in Rhymes. And I was delighted and honored to be one of several financial poets Ms. Pilon profiled in her article.

My Husband’s a New Yorker Cartoon Caption Contest Finalist

Monday, January 12th, 2009

My husband Mark, who has a really good eye for visual humor, recently started entering the New Yorker’s fun weekly cartoon caption contest. And we’re both thrilled that he’s one of only three finalists for this week’s New Yorker contest.

I hope you’ll check it out and vote for Mark’s caption. His is the best one, … and I’d say that even if he weren’t my husband.

1996 Humor Column About Underwear Shopping With My Mother

Monday, January 5th, 2009

Thanks to all of you for your kind emails, comments, and Twitter tweets about my mother’s death. I really appreciate it!

In my mother’s honor, I’m posting a 1996 humor column she inspired during happier (and funnier) times:

Secret Shopper
By Madeleine Begun Kane

“I’m not going in there. No way. Forget it.”

My seventy-something mother’s stance was as rigid as her words; arms folded across her chest, unyielding legs pointed away from the shop I’d just suggested.

She and I had spent the entire afternoon combing through three department stores for the definitive pair of panties. Or at least my mom’s idea of same. This illusive undergarment had to be loose, comfortable, 100% cotton, and totally devoid of lace. And that was just for starters. It also had to completely cover my mother’s hips and come in a large size, the exact number of which she resolutely refused to disclose. … (Secret Shopper is continued here.)

Rest In Peace, Mom

Thursday, January 1st, 2009

2008 was a very difficult year for me and for my family. My father died in January, and my mother died on December 30th and is being buried tomorrow.

Rest in peace, mom. I hope you and dad are together again.

I love you both and miss the two of you more than my words can express.

Beatrice Begun (1925-2008)