puppetmaker | RIP Wendy and Mrs. King

Wendy Wasserstein was a playwright who is probably best known for her Pulitzer prize winning play "The Heidi Chronicles." I met her right at the beginning of that sage while the Yale School of Drama was producing one of her plays as part of the Winterfest. I remember that the assistant stage manager had some choice words for Wendy since she (the ASM) ended up with long mornings at the copy machine getting those few rewritten pages copied. There was a rule at the YSD as to when you could use the copy service and when you had to do it yourself and Wendy's rewrites always seem to go right to the point but not over. I remember a bunch of us were with Wendy talking about the Heidi Chronicles at one point. I remember she had a quick wit but could also be very cutting and mean without really meaning it. It was just part of Wendy and you got use to it. Over the years I read and occasionally saw most of what she wrote. I thought she was a brilliant playwright. My image of her is watching her watch a rehearsal with her armed crossed and her head slightly tilted listening to the actors say what she wrote. I know she thought that was pretty darn cool. Wendy, I and the American Theater scene are gonna miss you and your wit.

I heard Coretta Scott King talk at a seminar at Emory more years ago than I care count. It was on civil rights for all and how each person could do something about it. I remember that she had a firm voice and chose her words very carefully. She seemed a person was peace with herself and the world. Only other individual I can think of that I have heard speak that I felt the same sort of quiet self-awareness was the Dali Lama. She had already been through a lot. Upon the death of her husband, she found herself picking up where he had left off and continuing his dreams. Her work for women's rights and civil rights was amazing. She will be remember for not only her husband but for what she did after she lost her husband. A strong brave Christian woman who was willing to stand up for what she believed.

I am grateful that I have a personal memory for each of these women.