Once Upon a Time

I was flipping stations on the tv, waiting for my laundry to dry as I packed my cases to fly out in the morning. It was the first time I had sat down all day, the first time I wasn't active at something. I landed on the last twenty or so minutes of WAITRESS. Natch, I did not change the channel. This is one of my favourite little movies. I simply love it. I love everything about it. Mostly, though, I love a cherished memory that this sweet little movie gave me.

I took Pat to see WAITRESS when it was in the theaters. I had known the story of the murder of the film's creator, Adrienne Shelley; he did not. We sat through every frame of the movie and when it was over he saw the dedication In Loving Memory of Adrienne Shelley. He asked what it meant and I told him that she had been murdered in her New York apartment. Quietly, he simply said

"No more stories."

I think that Adrienne Shelley would have loved that. I think she would have felt it a fitting legacy for her work as a filmmaker. She was an artist. She was a storyteller. To have someone who was touched by her artwork as a storyteller lament that her artistry was ended -- that is, indeed, a legacy.

I fancy myself a storyteller, whether it be with words or a camera. I take that role in this life very seriously. I admire, passionately, the storytellers in my life. I know what effect it has on me when they are silenced. It is a bad, bad day when a storyteller is stopped. Most of the time, my storytellers are the artists who create the television shows I watch. When Dan Lipman and Ron Cowen were silenced with the ending of their shows SISTERS and QUEER AS FOLK, it left a void in my life that I feel to this day. Othertimes, my storytellers are the writers I read. I was horribly bothered by the deaths of Truman Capote and Sidney Sheldon. In fact, in anticipation for Sidney Sheldon's demise, I set aside five of his novels to read later, so that it would be like I had a NEW Sidney Sheldon novel! Then there are the storytellers who, sadly, take their stories away. I actually took it personally when Jane Fonda and Debra Winger stopped working; and I was beyond overjoyed they went back to work.

Our storytellers are treasures to us. Let us, please, shower them with praise and with love so that they will continue to spin the stories that inspire us, the stories that thrill us, the stories that move us. Long live the stories and long love the storytellers. I am proud to count myself among them.

Faye Lane. You are one of my favourite storytellers. Please never stop.

(This story was pulled from an archive - posted on Facebook February 3, 2009. I post it here, as my favourite storyteller, Faye Lane, busily works on new writing projects that I can't wait to see published!)