Leslie Spitz-Edson's Blog, page 2

A game that "really" matters

Writing Seeking the Center was both fun and agonizing. Some of the plot lines seemed to resolve themselves without my intervention, while others were harder to manage. The central question was the most difficult to answer: How can Agnes, excluded from her ideal of "playing for points" in "real" games because of her sex, find a way to play hockey that satisfies her?

In solving this problem I had to work within the constraints of reality. A "Disney-esque" ending, as my editor put it, wouldn't be believable. Seeking was never meant to be one of those sports stories climaxing with the protagonist's victory against all odds in the "big game." Instead, the final game becomes a pitched battle between Agnes and her own fears.

Ultimately, Agnes does find a new way to play the game she loves. And although this new hockey exists outside of the "real" game to which she once aspired, it satisfies her need to play a game of consequence - a game that "really" matters.

Saturday book signing at Book World in Minocqua

...and this Saturday, August 5, from 11:00 am-1:00 pm, I'll be signing books at Book World in Minocqua, Wisconsin! 

Please come and say hello -- maybe buy a book (or two)! The address is 522 Oneida Street, Minocqua, Wisconsin, 54548. Hope to see you there!

Saturday book signing at Fitger's in Duluth

Here I am, up in the beautiful north, looking forward to my very first book signing in Minnesota -- a.k.a. the State of Hockey. 

If you're in the area, please join me at Fitger's Bookstore, 600 East Superior Street, Duluth, Minnesota, 55802 on Saturday, July 29, noon-2pm.

 

Unwomanly sports

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Photo from Hilary Knight's July 19 tweet announcing her Reddit AMA ("Ask Me Anything")

While idly perusing twitter a couple of days ago, I saw that professional hockey player (Boston Pride) and U.S. National Team star Hilary Knight had taken part in a Reddit AMA. Someone I follow on twitter reported that, during the session, she'd been asked why she chose hockey over figure skating.

Implicit in the question, of course, is the assumption that, rather than hockey, figure skating is the skating sport that girls and women would/should naturally pursue. You'd have to be a strange woman indeed to choose hockey over figure skating. Not only strange, but also, quite possibly, difficult, contrary, subversive - even unwomanly (!!!).

The question also brings to my mind some of that Title IX-derived "separate but equal" rubbish. (I hate to bash Title IX, which has obviously been important and beneficial, but it does have its downsides.) For example, during the fall season in high school we have football for the boys, so we need a sport for the girls. Let's say ... volleyball? That works -- the boys won't need the gym because they'll be out on the football field. Okay, volleyball it is. But here's the thing, and it's nothing against volleyball, but let's face it: playing volleyball is unlikely to satisfy a girl who really wants to play football. Likewise, playing football isn't going to satisfy the boy who really wants to play volleyball. And figure skating, my friends -- as amazingly beautiful and athletic as it is -- is unlikely to satisfy the person of any gender who really wants to play hockey.

I often get the same question that Knight got. I'll be at the rink, lacing up my hockey skates, and someone will ask, out of the clear blue sky, "why aren't you doing figure skating?" Often it's one of the very first things someone will say to me.

I always answer nicely, but honestly, people! It's 2017! Can't we move past this ridiculous stereotyping, which only serves to keep people trapped in little boxes and make them feel bad or embarrassed for who they are?

(And in case you're wondering, when they asked Hilary Knight why she chose hockey over figure skating she said, "my choice was between skiing and hockey.")

Wonder Woman: a message for these times

For the past week a certain movie has absolutely dominated my twitter feed. Many of the women (and men) that I follow are praising not only the movie’s strong female lead, but also its portrayal of compassion & love as primary sources of power. This is one of the themes of Seeking the Center…

Of course I'm talking about Wonder Woman!

Well, last night I got to see for myself: My tweeps' observations were true AND Wonder Woman was very entertaining - attractive, action-packed, tight, and filled with many appealing (and appropriately unappealing) characters.

But what I like the most about it is this: Wonder Woman rejects the black-and-white thinking that you sometimes see in these ‘good versus evil’ stories. We all have the capacity for both good and evil. Our constant responsibility as humans is to try to skew towards the good. I love the way the film delivers this message, and I think it's especially important in times like these. (I also like that it's presented in a way that is appropriate for younger people - the film is rated PG-13.)

Finally I must add that in this case, although I'm usually fairly cheap (I'm a starving writer, after all!) I relished the opportunity to vote with my wallet for a movie with a strong female lead. We need many more of these!

 

Book signings planned

Can't wait until the summer! I've got two signings planned in the beautiful upper Midwest, the first on July 29 at The Bookstore at Fitgers in Duluth, and the second on August 5 at Bookworld in Minocqua. For more information see my Events page.

Don't tell me what I can't do

The US Women's National Hockey Team is crushing it at Worlds, with two victories, both shut-outs, in two games played so far - the first against arch-rival Canada. Some observers had thought that their lengthy negotiations with USA Hockey, which forced them to miss most of their training camp, would impact their play, but so far it hasn't. Or maybe it's impacted their play in a positive way.  Maybe it's empowered them.

If their story has piqued your interest, I recommend that you read Mary Turco's Crashing the Net: The U.S. Women's Olympic Ice Hockey Team and the Road to Gold. It's about the US women's victory in Nagano, Japan, in 1998 - the first time women's hockey was included in the Olympics. In the tradition of Wayne Coffey's classic The Boys of Winter, about the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" in which the US Men's National Team - then made up of amateur (not NHL) players - beat the Soviets, it tells not only the team story, but also describes the individual paths and struggles of the players. As such, it makes concrete the obstacles that girls and women of that generation faced as they tried to pursue careers in the sport.

I had a hard time reading Crashing the Net, because for so much of it there were tears in my eyes - tears of pride, gratitude, sadness, joy - as well as tears of anger and defiance. All of these women had to overcome powerful voices telling them that they could not play. Not all were as overt as those who screamed at goalie Erin Whitten to "go back to the kitchen" and hurled tampons at her as she played, but as we all know, the more insidious voices - the ones most difficult to identify - are the ones most difficult to take down.

The voices telling us that we are inferior, that our play is boring and slow, that we can't be trusted to make decisions about our bodies or about what risks we're willing to take on or off the ice - those voices are still prominent and loud in 2017. But this I hope is true: girls now dare to set their expectations higher and broader than they ever did before. We dare to hope for more, work for more, and claim more for our own. Letting our own voices speak out and letting them define our ambitions and actions is the first and most important step in silencing those outside voices that tell us we can't. I didn't have this knowledge, this ability, this freedom, when I was growing up. But for the joy of knowing that so many girls now do, I thank women such as those of the US Women's National Hockey Team, past and present.

A few belated words about Owen

I’ve written about Claude here and , and about Agnes here. But I've yet to write anything at all about the third angle of Seeking the Center's primary love triangle. So here goes.

Owen MacKenzie was actually the first character that I envisioned when I started considering a story about hockey. He's just an earnest, striving, and relatively simple dude - which is, admittedly, a bit of a hockey stereotype, albeit one worth thinking about in more detail.

Owen's hockey career is thrust upon him at some point during high school when, seemingly overnight, he grows by about a foot, making him suddenly viable as a serious player. But the only reason that he had even an ounce of viability in the first place - which, to his credit, he realizes - is Agnes, with whom he has shared a respect for the game - and an engrossing rivalry in it - since they were little kids.

As Owen leaves the relatively protected zone of childhood, he encounters a new kind of hockey - hockey as an industry that commoditizes and at times dehumanizes its workers. He also encounters racism and sexism, not for the first time, but in particularly virulent, concentrated forms that adversely affect him and his relationships with other people. They aren’t aimed directly at him, of course, because he's a white male, but he both witnesses them and becomes complicit in them, whether more or less knowingly.

In developing Owen, I wanted to show his privilege and the contradictions that it reveals. I wanted to show the downsides of his (largely enviable) position. And I wanted to show the depth of his loyalty to Agnes - even when she baffles or angers him, he isn't able to disengage. Is it love, or is it some even more primal reflex? He's like a dog hanging onto a stick, his jaw locked, his teeth digging into the soft wood as you try to wrest it free. And the longer he hangs on, the less inclined he is to let go, because - well, just because.

Underneath Owen's easygoing, affable nature is a fair amount of anger and frustration that, thanks to his life-long position of (relative) privilege, is only now beginning to surface. He's forced to acknowledge it, to puzzle out where it comes from, and to address it. If he can combine these efforts with his authentically kind instincts, will it be enough to meet Agnes halfway? And if it is, will halfway be enough?

If you want to find out, you'll have to read the book.

The women will play: US National Women's Team & USA Hockey reach an agreement

Good morning! Over a week has passed since I wrote about the National Women's Hockey Team and its boycott of the upcoming World Championships. I'm now happy to report that the women will play. Yay!

Although USA Hockey attempted to buy itself time (or avoid the issue altogether) by trying to enlist replacement players for the tournament, almost every player it contacted stood up in support of the National Team by publicizing her refusal to take USA Hockey up on its offer of a roster spot for Worlds. (See #BeBoldForChange.) And USA Hockey showed its desperation by contacting not only professional and college players, but also rec league and high school players. Reportedly, barely a handful showed any interest. As club college player Lauren Allen said to the New York Times, "We weren't going to go behind the backs of our sisters, because we believe we need equality...It's a movement, women's hockey history, and of course I support them."

In addition, there were indications that the Men's National Team might boycott its World Championship tournament (scheduled for May) in support of the women, and there were clear messages of support from the player's associations of the MLB, the NBA, the NHL, and the NFL; from individual athletes and coaches around the world; and from twenty U.S. Senators who called on USA Hockey to obey the Ted Stevens Act, which requires that it provide girls and women with support and opportunities equal to those provided to male players. 

So, kicking and screaming, USA Hockey has been dragged into the 21st century. Here's the gist of the agreement, via a tweet from devoted women's hockey reporter Hannah Bevis: 

 

With that settled, we can look forward to Friday and the start of the tournament. Unfortunately, the games are generally not covered by major networks (the NHL channel may broadcast some of them): that's a fight for another day. But, to keep ourselves abreast of the action, we are fortunate to have two relatively new websites devoted to coverage of women's hockey, whether it be NCAA, professional, or national. They are The Victory Press and The Ice Garden. Please support them!

Incidentally, if you need another reason to be outraged by the way USA Hockey has tried to belittle our sisters' successes, read this.  

 

I just posted an excerpt from Seeking the Center...

...right here! Let me know what you think!