Annamaria in Three Days Late
I apologize for going AWOL for a couple of weeks. To be honest, I found myself with little time for writing anything at all, and I chose to devote what I had to finishing my work in progress, which was pouring into my head. I am past 61K words now, and I see the ending coming, so though real life remains quite busy, I am happy to say that I am here with this tribute to Karen Blixe aka Isak Dinese. I first fell for her as a Lit major when I was assigned to read her short stories in Seven Gotic Tales published under her pen name.
Her name came up because I have an ancient copy of this handy way to keep track of friend and family birthdays. I've had it since 1984, hence the clearly visible Scotch tape holding it together.
The entry at the top clued me in that it was time that I give Karen some attention.
Most American's know her as the person played by Meryl Street in the movie Out of Africa. When her memoire of the same name first launched, it carried her pen name, already well known at the time. (Karen took the pen name, as many women did in the those days because books written by women were not considered important and mostly could't get published.)
Nowadays, if you search Seven Gothic Tales the answer you get may very well say "A book by Karen Blixen." Only if the answer shows the book will it show the author as Isak Dinesen. Either way, it is a masterpiece.
Here below are some souvenir shots from my first time visit to Karen Blixen's house
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| "...at the foot of the gong hills." |
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| Lucy, my guide, and a portrait of Karen |
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| Karen's house, now a museum. |
The Karen museum is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Kenya. I'm not sure if it sells books, but I am certain that if you want fame, it helps if Meryl Streep pays you in a movie, especially of Robert Redford plays the love interest, and if the film is also a masterpiece.
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Unfortunately I never visited it when I lived in Nairobi. Has it always been a museum?
ReplyDelete"Anon" is me!
DeleteIt was opened as a museum in 1986. That is one year after the launch of the film which was filmed there. Given the timing, it seems that they anticipated the popularity of story.
DeleteThank you, Michael, for all you are doing to keep MIE going!!!
DeleteEvKa: Thanks! I'm sure I knew this once, but had completely forgotten it. See: never too old to learn. (Speaking of which, the past month, I've been learning to knit. Great way to keep my mind active (and awake) in the evenings.)
ReplyDelete
DeleteGood for you, EvKa! I learned to knit as a young child and have been doing it all my life. I can't watch a movie on TV without my knitting. Such a satisfying feeling, too what the work grow in your hands.
EvKa: After a pseudo-scarf monster, where I learned to knit/purl, my first project was the "Melt Ice" hat (https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/melt-the-ice-hat). The first version was horrible, the second was much better, and then the third (with better yarn) turned out almost perfect. Now, I'm practicing making multi-color stranded 'hexagons', with the goal of an afghan based on this pattern: https://www.knitpicks.com/rainforest-bloom/p/18945D
DeleteShould be a (good) challenge, and yes, it's almost meditational to knit.