It's sometimes strange how lives come together. I barely knew who Sam Shepard was, other than a character actor, before I met Dave and started visiting him in Minnesota. Whenever I was there we would spend a couple of days in Stillwater. This is a tiny old, picturesque logging town on the St. Croix River. I love it.
I soon became aware that Sam Shepard and Jessica Lange lived in Stillwater. They were a couple for about 27 years and had two children together. Just as we started visiting Stillwater we began to hear that the relationship was ending. But we still liked seeing Jessica Lange's lovely home. And I enjoyed getting to know more about both of them.
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| Lange's Stillwater Home |
I was surprised to learn that Sam Shepard was a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright - among other things. He generally wrote gritty, sad things about farmers, the open road, rock stars and residents of trailer parks. Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune wrote that ...Shepard was widely regarded as the greatest playwright of his generation and was the subject of countless books and academic studies.
I would never have known Sam Shepard was a writer if not for our Stillwater connection. Following is an example of Shepard's writing. It's particularly sad in light of his awful illness and early death. But ends with a note of hope.
I hate endings, Just detest them.
Beginnings are definitely the most exciting,
middles are perplexing
and endings are a disaster.
The temptation towards resolution,
towards wrapping up the package,
seems to me a terrible trap.
Why not be more honest with the moment?
The most authentic endings are the ones
which are already revolving
towards another beginning.
That's genius
Sam Shepard, in The Paris Review
