Julie Salamon brings readers the story of Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein in her authorized biography, WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS. Poignant, authentic and captivating, Salamon weaves the tale with impeccable imagery and relatable portraits of joy, loss and hidden truths. Her gentle narration opens a landscape of introspection, and fills the pages with humor, honesty and ripe realizations of a life cut short, but fully lived.
Salamon shares a glimpse into her writing process, what fascinates her, and what she believes shaped her destiny.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I vaguely thought I might be a doctor (like my dad), but really had no idea.
Why was it important for you to tell Wendy Wasserstein’s remarkable story?
I've always been obsessed about how people choose--or are destined--for the paths they take. I'm also fascinated by the interplay between personal history and the larger forces that form the context for our lives. In Wendy's story I found a wonderful vehicle to follow my particular passions through a life that embodied many questions I've confronted myself.
Would you share a little about your writing process? How much of your time goes into research (interviewing Wendy’s friends and family, reading her works, journals and letters) vs. writing the book?
The entire process took three years. For the first year I wrote nothing, just immersed myself in interviews, reading, visits to the archive at Mount Holyoke (more reading). I must note that the interview phase goes much faster now than even a few years ago because the internet has made it so much easier to find people. I was able to track down a friend of Wendy W's from Mount Holyoke, who now lives in Oregon, within hours; it could have taken weeks (or never) in the past.
After a year and more than 200 interviews I began to map out the book. I've found that it takes the actual writing to discover what's missing, so the first draft combines writing and more interviews, more library research. Then, with the invaluable reactions and suggestions of my editors at Penguin-- Ann Godoff and Lindsay Whalen--I began the crafting that turns this mass of information into a narrative.
WENDY AND THE LOST BOYS reads more like a fictional novel than a biography. As the unbiased narrator, how do you tell the story of her life without influencing the reader?
I think it's impossible to the story of a life--or any story--without influencing the reader. Biographers absorb a huge amount of raw material and then have to shape it into a form that conveys a life. The biography I've written about Wendy Wasserstein will almost invariably be different than the one anyone else would write. I tried to convey as many aspects of her character as I could, from the point of view of a wide variety of people. Most important to me was finding Wendy's own voice, the private as well as the public.
Would you say all dreams have cost?
Absolutely, whether they are fulfilled or unfulfilled.
You have worn many hats, as a reporter, film critic, culture writer, journalist, author, and a champion for
people reclaiming the lives they have lost. Would you say it was easy to relate to Wendy – in the sense that you both (appear to) have gone after your dreams and believe wholeheartedly in the worlds that inspire you?
Wendy and I grew up in quite different circumstances (she was a born and bred New Yorker; I come from a town of 700 in rural southern Ohio). Though I have lived in New York my adult life, and my world has overlapped with Wendy's, I considered myself more of a "downtown" person and her as more "uptown." But the more I learned about her, the more I did relate to her struggles, her determination, her willingness to forge ahead even when she faced rejection and disappointment. I related to her conflicting desires and came to deeply appreciate her courage and commitment, as well as the humanity that led her to behave nobly sometimes and less than perfectly at others!
Being a writer, you interact with people all over the world. You touch lives, even shaping destinies simply by offering words and new dreams into someone else’s life. Has anyone ever inadvertently shaped your destiny? Did Wendy?
That's a profound question. More than a person, I think my destiny was shaped by a place. My parents came to this country after World War II, Jews from Czechoslovakia who had survived Auschwitz and Dachau. They settled with my sister in rural Ohio in the 1950s, where my dad became the town doctor and I was born. I had a lovely childhood there, but was clearly an outsider--part of the only Jewish (make that Hungarian speaking Jewish!) family living in a town with eight churches, all Protestant. I was haunted by dreams--and many nightmares--of the world my parents had come from, the horrors they'd endured. From earliest childhood I was a devoted reader, trying to understand the universe that seemed so incomprehensible. So maybe the inadvertent shaper of my destiny was the librarian who stacked the shelves of the bookmobile that came to town every six weeks or so.
As for Wendy, she's shaped the course of the past three years, no question of that.
What are the most important attributes to remaining sane as a writer?
You may have to check with my family regarding the assumption of sanity....but I can tell you about my pattern of writing.
It's very hard not to be consumed by your passion. But I try to pace myself, especially when I'm writing a book. I force myself to write every day, even if some days produce very little. While there is a quality of magic to the process--on good days I feel as though I'm working in a trance--it's important for me to have a life outside my head. It gets pretty tiring in there.
How do you feel about being interviewed? Does it ever become monotonous – being asked the same questions over and over again – or can you always find something new and rewarding to take away from the experience?
I almost always find something interesting in most interviews. Hardest for me is to keep myself from turning it around and start asking questions. I like to know who I'm talking to.
Would you share a little about what the BRC is and how people can help?
BRC began 40 years as the Bowery Residents Committee, a self help group made up of homeless men living on the Bowery, back when it was New York City's "skid row." Now it's a huge organization that helps several thousand people a year deal with substance abuse, homelessness, psychiatric issues, and the other difficulties that face those living at the margins. The goal of the organization is to help people reclaim lives that have been derailed by mental illness and poverty. For more information check www.brc.org
After getting to know Wendy at the level of understanding that you have acquired, is there anything you wish you could tell her, anything that you feel is left for you to say?
I hope it's all there in the book. But check in with me in a year!
Visit Julie Salamon at: www.juliesalamon.com
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