Bruce Patterson – Old Time Tales of Anderson Valley

Walking Tractor And Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley

Stories of the days that no longer exist in rural areas tell us how things were, how people worked, lived and played, and bring to life conditions that most of us never knew existed. “Walking Tractor and Other Tales of Old Anderson Valley,” is a collection of stories written by Bruce Patterson, who lives in Philo, a rather small community in rural Anderson Valley, Mendocino County, California. The introduction to, “Walking Tractor,” quotes Ernest Hemmingway as saying, “You can only write about what you know,” something that is verified in the stories of Bruce Patterson, who is known to his friends as Pat. I met with Pat in the studio of Radio Curious, in the last week of August, 2006 to learn about his life, his stories and the man he is.

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Originally Broadcast: August 30, 2006

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Paul Goldstein – The Artist’s Right of Ownership

Errors and Omissions

Who owns the rights to a play, a song, or a work of art? How important and fragile is the authorship? These and other issues of intellectual property rights begin to be revealed in,  “Errors and Omissions,” a novel by Stanford Law Professor, Paul Goldstein. “Errors and Omissions,” follows the story of Michael Seeley as he locates a World War Two era Polish refugee who is the author of a screenplay that has the potential to make a huge amount of money not only from the movie rights, but also from the sale of associated paraphernalia. Goldstein, who began writing fiction at the age of twelve, hopes now, fifty years later that readers of his first full length novel will carry away the sense of the fragility of authorship, when an artist creates a work out of thin air. I spoke with Paul Goldstein from his office at Stanford University and began by asking him to define intellectual property.

Paul Goldstein recommends, “Aspects of the Novel,” by E.M. Forster.

Originally Broadcast: August 9, 2006

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Martha McCabe – Culture and Racism

Praise At Midnight

Life, culture and racism are the topics of this edition of Radio Curious, in conversation with attorney/novelist Martha McCabe, author of, “Praise at Midnight.”  Martha McCabe worked as a civil rights and criminal trial lawyer in deep east Texas from 1974 to 1985.  Her goal was to pour the raw material from her personal experiences as a lawyer into her story.  The deeper level into which she fell during the ten year period it took her to complete, “Praise at Midnight,” was the importance of consciousness and self awareness in avoiding the projection of one’s own dark side on to other people and then killing them.  She applies this to both local and international levels in her considerations.  She and I have been associates, good friends and colleagues since 1969 when we met at the University of Santa Clara where I was a law student.  When I spoke with Martha McCabe from her home in San Antonio, Texas on July 29, 2006, we began with her description of the culture of deep east Texas at the time she was living there, 1974 to 1985.

Martha McCabe recommends, “Reading Lolita in Teheran,” by Azar Nafisi and, “Caballero: A Historical Novel,” by Jovita Gonzalez and Eve Raleigh.

Originally Broadcast: August 2, 2006

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