An Ear to Dialects...
Author George V. Higgins wrote from his ear. What he heard, he wrote. I'm currently reading "Swan Boats at Four" which is probably not the best example of his sophisticated attention to the nuances of spoken language, but is one of his books I haven't read. Many readers became acquainted with his work when the film "Friends of Eddie Coyle" played. His strength in translating the spoken to the page sparkled in that book and its later movie production. My early years through college, experienced in Boston and the South Shore, made me attentive to the many local accents from Chelsea to Lowell to the North End to Dorchester to Southie and on and on. When I first read Higgins, his prose brought me home. He was gifted.
Many years later when I was faculty advisor to the Westfield State College Senior Class, the students turned down the Administration's suggestion for a graduation speaker who would also receive an honorary doctorate. I was appointed to negotiate with the student officers and find a literary choice. I met with them and they were adamant the choice should be someone from Massachusetts; there had not been a 'local' choice for several years and the students wished to choose for a state school, a state speaker. I put forward several choices, but they stated, 'not the King's English but ours is needed'.
We (the Acting College President, the Students, and I) met my choice, George V. Higgins, at Jimmy's Harbor Side in Boston for dinner. And what a night! Higgins was in rare form and entertained us with outrageous but true stories; and he was a storyteller. The President had reservations the choice, and wondered if he were reserved enough for a speaker. Would he hold down on the splashy rhetoric for the day and said it was my job to ensure he did.
I spoke with Mr. Higgins and said how we welcomed him. I said nothing else and held my breath. He spoke. He was brilliant, and further he returned the honorarium back to the school with hearty wishes for all. What a trip! What an experience... was Author George V. Higgins and what a read.
K. B. Pellegrino, Author
Many years later when I was faculty advisor to the Westfield State College Senior Class, the students turned down the Administration's suggestion for a graduation speaker who would also receive an honorary doctorate. I was appointed to negotiate with the student officers and find a literary choice. I met with them and they were adamant the choice should be someone from Massachusetts; there had not been a 'local' choice for several years and the students wished to choose for a state school, a state speaker. I put forward several choices, but they stated, 'not the King's English but ours is needed'.
We (the Acting College President, the Students, and I) met my choice, George V. Higgins, at Jimmy's Harbor Side in Boston for dinner. And what a night! Higgins was in rare form and entertained us with outrageous but true stories; and he was a storyteller. The President had reservations the choice, and wondered if he were reserved enough for a speaker. Would he hold down on the splashy rhetoric for the day and said it was my job to ensure he did.
I spoke with Mr. Higgins and said how we welcomed him. I said nothing else and held my breath. He spoke. He was brilliant, and further he returned the honorarium back to the school with hearty wishes for all. What a trip! What an experience... was Author George V. Higgins and what a read.
K. B. Pellegrino, Author
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