Humor sells... it always has, it always will

[image error]Robert Parker isn't sitting at his computer writing, he isn't taking the dog for a walk, and he isn't flirting with his wife, Joan. He isn't doing any of those things because he left a little over a year ago; but he isn't gone.  He's still with every Spenser fan, and their numbers increase daily.  He is still with everyone who cheers when Tom Selleck, aka Jessie Stone, walks into the first scene of a Jessie Stone movie, or Captain Healy shows up to lend the small-town police chief a hand (just like we knew he would), but most of all, as far as I'm concerned, Robert Parker is still with me, especially when I’m writing.

Like every Parker fan, I love the books, and the movies made from them.  If there's a problem with the books it is that there aren't nearly enough of them.  Besides the sheer pleasure of reading his work, Robert Parker gave me another gift.  He made humor alright after my mother dedicated her life to convincing me that wasn't true.  

The single most frequent "talk" my mother administered to me centered on the theme, "Everything isn't funny, young man."  For a long time I believed her but I still found everything funny.  So, with childlike logic, I assumed that something must be wrong with me. I tried to fix my defect but my best effort would only keep the humor from spilling out of mouth for maybe a half an hour and then it would return, amplified. 

 One of my earliest memories is overhearing my mother tell a friend who had just commented on how cute I was, "He is cute, but don't look at him and don't do anything that will get him started.  He thinks he is a comedienne."

Robert Parker made it alright for me to “get started” and never stop.  I know that life is funny and that knowledge comes out in everything I say and everything I write.  Now I laugh without thinking that there might be something wrong with me.  My written humor isn't up to the mark that Robert Parker set, but it will be one day.  

If you are one of the dozen or so people on the planet who aren't familiar with Parker humor; here's a very short sample from Painted Ladies:

(Captain Healy talking to Spenser)

"You read a lot," Healy said.  "You ever heard of her?"  

"No," I said. "But maybe she doesn't know who I am either."  

"I'd bet on it." Healy said.  

**********

I know who Robert Parker was, is, and always will be, and that makes me smile.  In fact it often makes me laugh out loud, even when I’m the only one in the room.  And, when I write something that I think is really funny, something like this passage, from Southern Investigation, I know that Robert Parker thinks it’s funny too, and when I listen close I can hear him laughing.

(from Southern Investigation)

The beginning of the company….

“Welcome home, Bill,” she said, as she smoothly got us moving back to our table.  Only then did I realize that, for the past few minutes, we had been the center of attention at Betty’s Restaurant. 

As we settled into our chairs David leaned across the table, looked into my eyes and with all the seriousness he could muster, said, “Bill, do you have a lawn mower.”

I couldn’t say anything for a moment then at the same time Shirley and I both lost it.  David waited for us to regain some composure and then said, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you two.  That was a serious question.”  Then we all laughed. 

It was a while before I could respond.  Finally I said, “Hell no, I don’t have a lawn mower and I don’t want one either.”

Shirley, still laughing, said, “Well so much for Southern Lawn Care.”

Thanks, Robert.  You are a helluva mentor.

Sixkill, the latest Spenser novel, is available in the Amazon Kindle Store and other fine bookstores worldwide.