How to use this Page

Picture trumps words.
Again.

Sublime.

Also the perfect print-out. I think I'm going to write something about him today...

*smiles* He'd like that, I think.

I'm wiping a tear.

"A cage went in search of a bird." I believe Franz Kafka said that. THE perfect description of the mostly unattainable magic of creativity.

There are some people that just seem ageless. He was one of them. Many years ago, when I was just starting out, I sent for a freebie book put out by a paper company on writing and reading. Plimpton, Mailer, and others contributed, including Vonnegut. Vonnegut wrote about editing and that no sentence is so great that it can't undergo scrutiny.

Wow, same obit as Spalding Grey...

I can't think of anything more fitting (or poignant).

If you're interested in reading more about Vonnegut's battles with depression, visit http://www.healthcentral.com/depression/kurt-vonnegut.html. Leaders from the mental health community discuss the profound social impact of Kurt Vonnegut's writing and the significance of public figures opening up about depression.

And so it goes. . .

A unique voice has been stilled.

I suspected you wouldn't fail to mention Mr. Vonnegut's passing. Even though he didn't believe in God (especially any sort of God capable of blessing anyone), to paraphrase one of his titles, "God bless you, Miss Snark." Both as a man and as a writer, Kurt was one of the great ones, one of the original ones, one of the irreplaceable ones.

The Breakfast of Champions is a martini.

Hopefully he meant a gin-martini.

Rest in peace.

*weeps* :(

Repeated around the world today, like a ringing of bells, "And so it goes." This is a very sad start to the morning.

A commenter at Salon.com said it best, I think: "Now mud lies down and goes to sleep."

And absolutely, God Bless You, Mr. Vonnegut.

Oh, this makes me so sad. I bumped into him once. I was in an old book store and turned the corner to go to the other side and he was doing the same from the other direction. I was embarrassed, he wasn't. Thank God I had on of his books in my hand. ;)

I am saddened at his passing - he taught me to really read, not just look at words.

And so it goes.

May his voice never be forgotten

We will miss your voice, Mr. Vonnegut. And so it goes.

He happened in our lifetime! There is cause to grieve at his passing, and cause to celebrate his living. He made jewels and left them for us.

In his book, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction, Vonnegut stated that there are eight rules for writing a short story.

"1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things -- reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them -- in order that the
reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages."

I don't have a favorite of his books, but I used to want to become chrono synclastic infundibulated.

I just read this. Well, now he is in that big writing room up in the sky.

I took a Science Fiction course in high school, and Slaughterhouse Five was required reading. I really enjoyed it.

My favorite Kurt Vonnegut piece is Harrison Bergeron. Much can be learned from that story.

I dug out my tattered, disintegrating copy of Player Piano last night after I read the news of his passing. I discovered that my four favorite pages in the entire book have gone missing. Probably just the result of lugging an elderly paperback around for too long, but it felt somehow significant.

We'll miss you, Kurt.

Tawna
r

On writing, I also like another quote of Vonnegut's - I think it might be in Bagombo Snuff Box, too. It was how writing was unlike almost all other mediums - you put down a thought, and then you can come back to it and make it better, and better, and sooner or later you can't help but make something halfway intelligent.

Modest to a fault, and at the same time inspiring to others - in short, a great man.

Hope that, among many other things, he's having fun in a coffee shop in Heaven, or a bar, trading stories with Hunter S.

Aw hell is right.

When I was 12, I discovered Mr. Vonnegut's world, and read all his books within three weeks. I didn't get much sleep.

Truly a sad day.

"A purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."

*weeping echoed*

Taught me that you should write like yourself, even if you happen to be a Hoosier.

And that's to paraphrase TWO of his book titles. Today I can't forget "God Bless You Dr. Kevorkian."

God bless you, Mr. Vonnegut!

Weird, passionate, inspired and a bloody good writer.

It's a crappy day.

I've been chewing on this all day.

I fell in love with his stuff when I was about sixteen, fell out of love about ten years later, although I was always grateful for what he'd done. And I always respected the sheer balls it must have taken to do a lot of what he did at his best. Think of the audacity of building a religion on a skinny Calypso singer. Or the sweet faith it must've taken to write that scene in Slaughterhouse Five where Billy Pilgrim watches the World War II movie backwards, and it ends with American women dismantling the bombs and scientists burying their ingredients deep into the earth where they would never hurt anyone again.

I think Vonnegut did something in the early 70s that we haven't seen since, and may not see again. He made it cool for young people to read -- and enjoy -- books that asked Big Questions (What is the purpose of Life? Is there a God?) and were filled with Big Ideas. It was a brief hiatus in the general drift away from the printed word, lasting only from Slaughterhouse Five through the aftermath of the publication of Breakfast of Champions, three or four years later. But he was everywhere then, and I think we're all better for that.

I'm with Anne. KV changed my life when I was about 12, which means about 1970 (in my case, I happened upon "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater" because I was sick of YA fiction and had migrated to the adult fiction section of my small-town library).

Mr. Vonnegut is responsible for one of my best memories.

I've been interviewing authors on the radio for 22 years, and the web for seven. One day a few years ago I had a scheduled interview with Jill Krementz (aka Mrs. Vonnegut). When she arrived at my studios, I went to the lobby to greet her, turned the corner, and saw .. him. Words largely fail me, but the feeling was similar to what might happen if the IRS had not only sent me a refund check, but a waiver from all taxes for the next ten years.

Before I could figure out a tactful way to ask permission to interview him as well as her (remember, Jill was the one I was scheduled to interview), she said the words that sent my heart soaring. She turned to Mr. V. and said, "Why don't you come on into the studio with us?" Yes!

Her book was "The Writer's Desk," a collection of photos of authors at work -- including, of course, Kurt Vonnegut. So, after our interview, he signed his page in my copy of her book, including a clever self-caricature. You bet it's one of my most-cherished literary possessions.

Bless you Kurt Vonnegut. RIP.

A friend of mine, attractive young woman, knew him through her parents. When she was 20 or so and he was late 60s, he asked her (parents watching) to go have sex in the bathroom.
She declined. I hope I'm doing that as I near 70.

Wow. 60. Far too young. He had more books in him, I'm sure.

Oh no, that's so sad. Condolences to his family and all his friends.

I didn't know his work. I do now. 60 is young. Sounds like he had a good life. Thanks for this. Condolences.

I loved the Last Sherlock Holmes Story very much not only as a story but for putting a big stonking cat in amongst the fandom pigeons--and I read quite a few of the Aurelio Zen's. So sad to lose him so early.

I loved the Aurelio Zen series. I will miss him. Condolences to all.

Man. All the good guys get waxed before their time. It's a shame, truly.

This makes me ineffably sad.
My thoughts go out to both men's family and friends.

I was in New York for the very first time last month and I absolutely loved it. These two guys, and those like them, sound like a big part of the reason that the City is as fantastic today as I found it to be. What a loss.

LL

Stranger still, the
murderer (according to the NYT) was an aspiring screenwriter of science fiction movies.

Kind of puts all the time we spend worrying about word count and SASEs into perspective, doesn't it? It's wonderful they'll have full honors--they deserve it.

I really hope this happened despite the fact they had bullet proof vests on. It would be an outrage to send people to do this kind of work without even that much protection.

I didn't realize how young they were...

It's an outrage. There's nothing to say.

I read MS's post yesterday and it was the sort of thing that stuck to me--I've been around bad things happening to good people -- wars, riots, quakes, tsunamis -- a good deal of my life, but it's not something one gets accustomed to, even distant news like this hurts.

I've just posted this quotation on my own blog, and I'll share it here:

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us
~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I would say something much deeper and nobler than we may ever know resides within these two souls. And it will always matter.

According to an AP article:

Auxiliary officers are not issued bulletproof vests but can wear them if they buy their own. Pekearo was wearing a bulletproof vest, but only one shot hit the vest; bullets punctured his skin six times.

And the other man was shot in the back of the head, so it wouldn't have helped even if he had been wearing one.

I'm glad they're being given full honors. They are true heroes.

These were auxilliary police - they buy their own gear, sort of like the Army over in Iraq. I read that in the times. So sad.

Exactly 17 years ago this very week I was shot while working as an unarmed public safety officer (a paid version of an auxiliary cop) in NYC. Unlike these two brave men, I (obviously) survived.

Similarly, unlike the nearly dozen firefighters from the FDNY Special Operations Command who perished in the collapse of the Twin Towers -- whose two colleagues ten years earlier had come to my aid -- I am alive.

Unlike Officer Pekearo, I recovered from a bullet which pieced my body, then went on to write a book about an unrelated personal experience, returned to college and got a degree, then went to DC for five years to become a Capitol Hill reporter.

I feel damn lucky.

The first time I heard hostile gunfire I was in the army, it scared me quite a bit, and I had a weapon and the ability to return fire. The absolute courage that these two young men displayed is just incredible. I was once a cop (now retired) and I never went anywhere without my sidearm. I can't imagine not only facing an armed subject, but chasing that subject with an empty hand. These words are small, I feel small. Miss Snark it best when she said thank you. That really is all we can say.

"That's something he'd definitely get a kick out of."

And maybe a bigger kick if one of you crime-writing types named a good-guy character "Pekearo."

And to the person who used this tragedy to slam the Iraq war, you are scum.

Another gifted reader and writer dies much too soon.

Mr. Snopes, I wasn't slamming the war, simply pointing out that the aux police in NY are not given protective garments. This link from USA Today is quite informative. Shall I send my love to my own family members who are in Iraq from you?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2004-03-26-body-armor_x.htm

A pity they weren't armed. A tragedy, in fact.

A special thank you to these brave men we never knew. My thoughts go ut to their families and friends who no doubt will miss them immensely.

We would all do well to say thanks to those who put it on the line every day for us. Sometimes we forget and need a reminder.

Thank you for providing a way to remember these heroes.

We can do more to honor them. Let's try to make more positive connections in our lives. If each of us, just once a day, offers a smile or a comment or a compliment, we can connect to each other more as humans. With more in common instead of less.

Next time you're in line for groceries or a sandwich, make small talk. "The pastrami here is great!" or "Look at that cute baby over there."

You don't have to make the grand gesture to make this world a nicer place. But thank God for those who choose to when no-one else will.

Did this get national media attention? Thanks for posting as I hadn't heard about it. It's people like those two gentlemen who remind the rest of us namby-pamby whiners (I admit, I'm one of them) what it means to take action to make a better world. RIP fellas.

P.S., This also reminds us to reclaim the notion of what it means to be heroic.

As a New Yorker whose Dad was a cop, I'd like to say thanks to Miss Snark for her thoughtful post.

My dad was an Irish kid who spent 4 years in the US Army to get citizenship, and was plunked down as a beat cop in Harlem in 1961, still green as clover.

It was a tough city then, in a lot of ways tougher than now- but to this day my dad reminisces about the wonderful people he met, as well as the awful crimes he had to clean up. He told me later of the nightmares he had when a young kid was hit by a car; when he had to help fish a body out of the Harlem river (the arm came off while he was pulling it aboard), the awful desperation.

But he also had great tales , affectionately told, of the wonderful people he met in Harlem, good people. He was something of a curiousity as a cop- humorous and humane and genuinely interested in people. He still is.

I love his stories- meeting James Brown at the Apollo, where cops would "coop"- take a nap when they should be working; the fat lady stuck in the bathtub(a suction ploblem solved by olive oil and strong heave-ho). He helped give birth twice, on the floor of a bank and once in a taxicab. On a night of heavy violence in the city, a doc in an ER asked him if he ever stitched a soccer ball- Irish, of course he had- the doc had him stitch a guy's scalp up .

(Later he would work at the posher 17th precinct near the UN, where one of his frequent duties was delivering an intoxicated Truman Capote home to the UN Plaza. Dad loved Truman as a fellow "character"- Truman would burst into a cop bar in the E. 50's at 3 AM and go, "Bang, bang!!", his hands like guns...only later that I read Truman fancied working Irish guys..!)

The era that my father was "on the job" was fairly depicted in "Taxi Driver" and "Midnight Cowboy". A mephitic air, a sense of nihilism..quite different than today.

Thanks to Miss Snark for pointing out what a tough job it is, and showing by example that immense glamour is not incompatible with a big, noble, civic-minded heart.

Being a transcriber of parole hearings, I'm faced with this stuff on a daily basis. And still, hearing about it freezes my blood. Blessings on those who lose their lives so others may live.

I'm going to my altar to light two more candles...

Unbelievable.

Eugene and Nicholas, thank you. I'm naming characters after you.

People disgust me sometimes (like the guy with the gun here).

Amazing how these volunteers put their lives on the line for us. There's really no way to distinguish between regular police and these brave people, except they do not have guns. They didn't let that stand in the way of giving all.
Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Miss Snark. It seems to me in this day of high octane action movies that people forget what true heroism is all about - selfless acts of courage. Ordinary people putting the needs of others before their own. My prayers are with their families.

Amen. I see their photos on the front page of the Times. God bless them and their families. And to the criminal? Vafancullo!

My heart breaks for the family and friends of these men. My prayers are with them.
CJ

My "day job" is as a civilian employee of a police dept. and I really appreciate your post. Although some of the guys I work with annoy me to no end, I would never hesitate to put my life in their hands. They are truly public servants.

Thanks for the reminder.

I have thought of these two men so much in the last couple of days. This morning, MSNBC ran the surveillance tapes that caught what happened. I wasn't expecting it, and wish I hadn't seen it, but it does show how real these things are and the risks that auxilliary policemen or many other men and women who run toward the danger face...just to make a difference. And they do make a difference.

I have friends in the auxilliary, and I pray for them and for the families of Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo as well as all those who risk their lives to make this a better, safer place.

Thank you, all of you.

Thanks so much, Miss Snark, for the reminder of how so many people put their lives on the line to do the right thing and make life better.

Nicholas & Eugene - thank you for your work and your sacrifice.

CNN Story.

There are no words for this.

I think it is these silent heroes who truly are the best of humanity.

It's a terrible shame. I hope their families have lots of support.

God Bless Them.

Maprilynne

I used to be a civilian member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and can attest to the immeasurable value auxilary officers give to the citizens of their communities. I know of some volunteers who put in regular shifts every week as if they were being paid. Very often, these same men and women are taken for granted and their work is unrecognized. This, in my opinion, makes the designation of "hero" all the more appropriate.

If anyone is interested in demonstrating their appreciation for auxiliaries, or the police in general, you may want to join in on the Police Day celebrations or ceremony in your area. Here, in Canada, it's in September. I think it's the same in the U.S.

At the RCMP ceremony the name of every fallen officer since the inauguration of the Force is read by the Commissioner. It is a very touching tribute to these men and women.

My heart goes out to the families of Nicholas and Eugene. I hope, particularly at this time, they are surrounded by people they love.

I've been a cop. This outrages me.

Thank you for saying something, because I know a lot of people are thinking these guys were at fault for running toward the gunfire unarmed.

Well, sometimes you just gotta do the right thing and think of others before yourself.

I always believed that NYC cops had it tougher than we did in DC. Nothing has altered that belief. RIP guys.

I'm currently taking a Civilian Police Academy course through our local Sheriff's Office. I have a half-finished volunteer form. Time to fill in the other half.

Sadly, this reminds me of the reports of our young soldiers dying every day in the Middle East. All senseless acts and therefore beyond understanding, but nonetheless heroic.

This is so sad. Nicholas was a writer whose book was going to be published soon. Eugene was from Russia and wanted to become a prosecutor. These were truly two modern-day heroes...

Thank you for this.

'Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo, it's a little late to say thanks but I'll say it nonetheless; thanks guys.'


Well said.

I come from a long line of Irish cops and firefighters - all out of Newark, NJ.

My heart goes out to their families, for what should have been, and for what never will be, and for two lives cut far too short. There are no words.... truly...

Except maybe thank you.

This is so sad. Nicholas was 28; Eugene was only 19 years old - still in college!

Thank you for your kind words, Miss Snark.

It's especially great to see all these supportive comments when it seems all we hear about are the 'bad' cops....

Thank you. Yes. Thank you.

British cops usually aren't armed, but we do have "Special Constables" - the equivalent of auxiliaries.

I served about ten years in the Hampshire specials. One evening I was with two regular officers in a patrol car when we were called out to a suspect with a gun.

Everything went quiet. There were three of us, we could easily overpower him - but someone might not be going home. All the normal chat in the car stopped.

Then control came on the radio to say another unit had got the offender - without a shot being fired. The relief was like opening the gin on a hot day.

So I understand. I feel for you, and I churn it up inside me into writing.

Eugene Marshalik graduated from my high school in 2005. From the little I knew of him, running towards the sound of gunshots was exactly the kind of thing he would automatically do.
R.I.P., Eugene and Nicholas.

Thank you for all these kind words. I am Nicholas Pekearo's sister and am devastated by what has happened. Our family takes some comfort in knowing that he died doing something he loved and at this point in his life, he was so happy, especially with a book possibly being published soon. He will always be a hero to me...I have seen comments that say characters will be named after him..please let me know if this happens.

Ms.Snark,
I am Eugene's brother and my family's thoughts and prayers are with you and your family at this time. I am told that our brothers were friends. I believe that our brothers are at peace and hope that you too can find comfort in the fact that they were heroes. I know that I am very proud of their tremendous strength and courage, and hope that it has inspired the same in others. I would also like to thank all of the bloggers for their compassion. My family read this and your wonderful words have meant a lot to me and my family during a very difficult time.
Sincerely,
Max

Sad day indeed. I loved her blog, and I loved her for her generous spirit, as she hunted for undiscovered gems and brought them to the world's attention. I'll miss you, Ms. POD-dy Mouth.

I love this bit of wisdom from POD-dy Mouth: If you get rejected, don't take it personally. And if you get published, don't take that personally either.

I think I discovered Miss Snark from POD. I'm not surprised that she burned out. I shall miss her.

Pleeeeeze don't burn out, Miss Snark.

Although I too am sad- I can tell you blogging takes up a ton of valuable time that I should be spending on working on my next project.
I totally understand how one has to make that decision.
I am so impressed with the amount of time Miss Snark puts into blogging and know it is appreciated by the writing community.
Here! Here! and Kudos!

POD-DY Mouth RULED.

I loved her blog and I will miss it.
I can understand that she wants her life back, but I'll still miss it.

*gasp!*
Congratulations to POD-DY Mouth on a job well-done! Wishing her all the best.

What a great resource! Maybe she should ask if someone wants to continue her work - possibly as a group effort to lighten the burden, with her remaining as a contributing reviewer.

*gasp!* We will miss POD-DY Mouth. Best of luck to her in the future!

Sad day indeed. But it's also more than understandable.

Well, that just bums me out because I've never really read much of her blog, and her acknowledgment list wowed me!

Miss Snark, please don't tell us this is a bit of foreshadowing on your part because YOU CAN'T RETIRE!!!

Ever. OK? Please.

Oh heck.
The e-pubbed have lost a great friend.

The world of publishing your book POD just got a little colder.

And frankly it was pretty chilly already.

Thank you, POD-dy Mouth. You will be missed.

Art Edwards

One of the lucky ones

Aw, crap! Just when I'm getting published. I coulda used a decent review.