December 10, 2002
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Great Dream of Heaven
The title is that of Sam Shepard’s new book of short stories. It is relevant to several of my recent journal entries.
This author’s own title also seems relevant. Here is an excerpt from a web page on The Church of the Good Shepherd:
“This is the
oldest church in Beverly Hills, and over the years, this small house of
worship has been the local parish church for most of the Catholic movie
stars who live in Beverly Hills…. It has seen numerous celebrity
weddings and funerals. Although the church’s interior is modest (it
seats just 600), and its decor surprisingly simple, the Church of the
Good Shepherd has been featured in several Hollywood films: most
notably, it was the location for the funeral scene in the 1954 version
of ‘A Star is Born.’”Today’s Birthday: Emily Dickinson
Complete Poems, 1924
Part Four: Time and Eternity
This world is not conclusion;
A sequel stands beyond….Born Yesterday: Kirk Douglas
From Douglas’s Climbing the Mountain: My Search for Meaning (Simon & Schuster, 1997) —
“Selling artwork, devoting time to charitable causes,
writing novels, are all worthwhile means of occupying your time when
good scripts aren’t coming your way. But then, in the spring of
1993, one did.It was called Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, a story of a growing friendship betwen two old men dealing with the twilight of their lives…. It was brilliant….
I called my agent… “So make the deal.”
A long pause. “But the director wants to meet you.” ….
…. My agent called the next day. “She really likes you, Kirk… but… ah,” he started to stutter.
“What?”
“She wants Richard Harris.”
In the film of
Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
as finally made,
Richard Harris dies on
Hemingway’s birthday.Dead on October 25, 2002,
Picasso’s Birthday:Actor Richard Harris
A journal entry of October 25, 2002:
Wrestling Pablo Picasso
Aster on a
Greek Vase
Picasso by Karsh
Wrestling Ernest
HemingwayThe old men know when an old man dies.
— Ogden NashA description of the title story
in Sam Shepard’s Great Dream of Heaven:“Two old men who share a house are as close as a married couple
until a competition to wake up first in the morning and a mutual
fascination with a Denny’s waitress drive them apart.”
