Author Interview: Michael Helquist

Michael Helquist is an author, historian, and activist who has written for several publications including the Oregon Historical Quarterly, the American Medical News, and Ms. Magazine. He is a Portland native living in San Francisco.

Michael's new book is a biography of Marie Equi, an early 20th Century doctor and progressive activist described as “the most interesting woman that ever lived in [Oregon], certainly the most fascinating, colorful, and flamboyant.”

Michael recently took time from a busy book tour to answer questions for Rose City Reader:

How did you first learn of Marie Equi? She hasn’t been someone particularly well-known.

What first grabbed my attention about Marie Equi was an account of her sensational horsewhipping of a Baptist minister and school superintendent due to a pay dispute involving her girlfriend. This was in 1893 on a bake-oven hot summer day in the center of downtown The Dalles, Oregon. She was living on a homestead with her companion, Bessie Holcomb, who was a teacher. The school superintendent, O.D. Taylor, had refused to pay Holcomb her full salary after repeated entreaties. Equi – then 21-years-old – took the matter into her own hands. She got hold of a horsewhip and paced back and forth outside Taylor’s office, daring him to appear.

When Taylor ventured onto the street, Equi struck him repeatedly with the horsewhip. It created quite a stir in town. The local newspapers covered the ruckus for days afterward, and the story even appeared in The San Francisco Examiner. As it turned out, many in the town applauded her because Taylor was considered a scoundrel involved in land fraud. That episode made me want to learn more about this bold, independent woman who fought for justice and who dared to live far beyond social norms.

Can you tell us more about Marie Equi and why you wanted to write her biography?

Marie Equi was one of the marginalized people in our country’s history whose life stories seldom appeared. She was the daughter of working-class, Italian and Irish immigrant parents, and she knew early on that she did not want to get married. She yearned for independence and security, and she overcame considerable obstacles to achieve them. She became an early doctor in Portland and then achieved public acclaim as a heroine for helping victims of the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. But she remained an outsider as a lesbian and as a fierce advocate for working class and poor people, laborers, women seeking full citizenship rights, and all those mistreated by the ruling 1% of her time. In her words, she had “fighting Irish blood and fighting Italian blood” in her, and she refused to back down in the face of injustice. She endured police brutality, several arrests, and ultimately a prison term in San Quentin for speaking against World War One.

I was drawn to Marie Equi’s boldness and passion and to her reputation as one of the most prominent activists on the West Coast. That she was also a relatively open lesbian made her story more compelling. As an historian, I wanted to contribute to our understanding of how much these little-known outsiders contributed to our politics and our sense of who we are as a people.

How did you research Marie Equi’s story and how did you find enough source material about her?

Other historians and writers had concluded that not enough material and primary sources existed to permit a biography of Equi. I was determined to discover if that was accurate. I found records about Equi in boxes stored in the family church in New Bedford, Massachusetts. I located previously unknown documents about her schooling, medical career, political protests, and love affairs stashed in archives from the U.S. National Archives to the National Library of Ireland, from Indiana University to the Huntington Library in Pasadena.

Fortunately, Equi lived a remarkably public and controversial life. My research led me to more than 300 newspaper articles about her. I also located her testimony in court cases and her correspondence with family, friends, and other political radicals. I undertook a close reading of hundreds of pages of surveillance reports filed by federal agents and copies of her prison correspondence. These primary and secondary sources allowed me to document Equi’s considerable historical footprint and her voice.

Your book inspires further reading. Can you recommend any other books related to political activism in the Pacific Northwest? Any related to the history of lesbian/gay rights in Oregon?

I recommend:

• Sandy Polishuik’s Sticking to the Union: An Oral History of the Life and Times of Julia Ruuttila. Ruuttila was a contemporary of Marie Equi in Oregon.
• Kimberly Mangun’s A Force for Change: Beatrice Morrow Cannady and the Struggle for Civil Rights in Oregon, 1912-1936.
• Sue Armitage’s Shaping the Public Good: Women Making History in the Pacific Northwest.
• Robin L. Tyler’s Rebels of the Woods: the IWW in the Pacific Northwest; and, an overview, Michael Munk’s The Portland Red Guide:Sites and Stries from Our Radical Past.
• Kimberly Jensen’s Oregon’s Doctor to the World: Esther Pohl Lovejoy and A Life in Activism. Pohl Lovejoy was a contemporary of Marie Equi in Oregon
• Peter Boag’s two volumes,Same-Sex Affairs, Constructing and Controlling Homosexuality in the Pacific Northwest and Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past; and George Painter’s The Vice Clique: Portland’s Great Sex Scandal.

I also suggest regularly checking the website of the Oregon Historical Quarterly and the Gay Lesbian Archives of the Pacific Northwest (GLAPN).

What is your work background and how did it contribute to writing your book?

My background as a freelance journalist and as an activist helped me become a better public historian. From the start of my work on this biography, I wanted to tell a compelling story about the life and times of this complicated, remarkable person. I was also determined to ground this account in scholarly research and documentation.

What do you do to promote your book?

I schedule as many speaking engagements as possible. During the mid-September launch of my book in Portland, I squeezed five author events and two radio interviews into a four day period. That was followed by four events in San Francisco, including a release party attended by 100 people.

I also use social media every day – my website blog, Facebook and Twitter, emails, and articles on other websites. I’m currently developing two-minute videos to enhance my reach to new audiences. I find the challenge is to be both organized and methodical as well as to respond quickly to opportunities.

Do you have any events coming up to promote your book?

I’m excited that my next author event – titled “From Soapbox to San Quentin” – will be at McMenamin’s Edgefield in Troutdale, Oregon on Tuesday, October 27 at 6:30 pm (doors open at 5:00 pm). It’s free and open to the public. Books will be available to purchase and I’m more than happy to sign them.

I will also be interviewed by The PDX Beat on October 24 and by Wild Planet Radio (KPQR 99.1 FM) on October 27. Check websites for broadcast times.

And, I will be the featured guest on Oregon Public Radio's Think Out Loud program on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, from 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time. Listen live online.

Where can your book be purchased?

Local independent booksellers are always a great option. Broadway Books and Powell’s Books have copies in stock at their stores as well as through their websites. Other book stores can easily and quickly order copies. All the major book purchasing sites – Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and others -- can readily provide copies.

Oregon State University Press published my book, and copies can also be purchased at www.osupress.oregonstate.edu or at 1-800-621-2736.

THANKS, MICHAEL! AND GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR BOOK!

Book Beginning: Marie Equi

THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

FACEBOOK: Rose City Reader has a Facebook page where I post about new and favorite books, book events, and other bookish tidbits, as well as link to blog posts. I'd love a "Like" on the page! You can go to the page here to Like it. I am happy to Like you back if you have a blog or professional Facebook page, so please leave a comment with a link and I will find you.

TWITTER, ETC: If you are on Twitter, Google+, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book  Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up.

TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING



MY BOOK BEGINNING

Front-page reports of the pitched battle to the north were the talk of Portland on a rainy morning of November 6, 1916. Six men were slain and dozens more wounded in the lumber town of Everett, Washington, during a bloody free-speech skirmish.

-- Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions by Michael Helquist, published by OSU Press.

This is the first full-length biography of Equi, who was a doctor, progressive activist, and open lesbian, considered "the most interesting woman that ever lived in this state, certainly the most fascinating, colorful, and flamboyant."

PORTLAND EVENTS:

Author Michael Helquist will present "From Soapbox to San Quentin: Oregon's Firebrand Marie Equi" at McMenamin's Edgefield, this Tuesday, October 27, 2015 at 6:30. Doors open at 5:00. 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale. Free. All ages welcome.

Michael Helquist will be the featured guest on Oregon Public Radio's Think Out Loud program on Wednesday, October 28, 2015, from 12:00 noon - 1:00 p.m. Listen live online.

Teaser Tuesday: The Patron Murders by Edwin Wilson

While everyone else was upstairs, I sneaked down to the lounge. I wanted to see exactly what the layout was: Were there ways in and out?

-- The Patron Murders by Edwin Wilson.

Matt Johanssen is a stage actor and amateur sleuth. When a string of bizarre murders rocks New York's culture vulture set, Matt uses his behind-the-scenes know how to help the NYPD solve the mystery.

The Patron Murders is the debut mystery by author, teacher, producer, and former theater critic, Edwin Wilson.

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Jenn at A Daily Rhythm, where you can find the official rules for this weekly event.

Mailbox Monday: Alice in Bed

Thanks for joining me for Mailbox Monday! MM was created by Marcia, who graciously hosted it for a long, long time, before turning it into a touring event. Mailbox Monday has now returned to its permanent home where you can link to your MM post.

I got one book last week, and it sounds very interesting:



Alice in Bed by Judith Hooper. This historical novel tells the story of Alice James, the invalid sister of novelist Henry James and philosopher William James. No one knows why Alice is an invalid, but after taking London by storm, she took to her bed with a mysterious illness.

Most of the book is told through the siblings' letters, recounting the unusual childhood of the James children, family travels, discussions of Boston's intellectual elite, and their contemporary transatlantic gossip.

Alice in Bed is already generating praise and I look froward to reading it! Read the Publisher's Weekly review of Alice in Bed.

Author Interview: Kimberly Knutsen

Kimberly Knutsen is the author of The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath, a funny, literary novel about a college instructor in the Midwest, working on his PhD dissertation -- a creative work about the poet's lost diaries. Meanwhile, his wife is going through her own post-PhD slump. And things only get worse when her pregnant, '80s-obsessed, sister gets to town.

Kimberly recently took time to answer some questions for Rose City Reader:

How did you come to write The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath?

I was in a PhD program in Michigan and wrote the novel as my dissertation. During the years I worked on it, I had three small children, so I’d often be nursing a baby as I wrote. I also wrote in coffee shops. I spent a lot of money on lattes and lemon bars!

The book is permeated with the atmosphere of Midwestern academia. Did the setting influence the plot? Or vice versa?

I was definitely influenced by academia. Professors are insane, and they’re very easy to make fun of. Something about the high IQs turns the crazy up to 11. I taught women’s studies in Michigan, and while I’m a lifelong feminist, it was funny how humorless that world could be. There are always faculty feuds in academia. It’s a very class-conscious and incestuous world. I thought it would be funny to put Wilson—self-proclaimed genius who knows nothing about women—into a women’s studies department. Or maybe it was mean. Mean and fun.

There is a fine tradition of Iowa Writers’ Workshop graduates like you setting novels in Midwestern academia. Did you consciously follow in the footsteps of Philip Roth (Letting Go) and Jane Smiley (Moo)?

No. But I did love Jane Smiley’s A Thousand Acres, which takes place in Iowa. And of course Dennis Johnson’s Jesus’ Son. Something about debauchery set against the clean, flat canvas of the Midwest is compelling to me. As January says in the novel, “There are no edges to this world.” No mountains, no oceans. It’s disconcerting. Where do you end, and where does the world begin? I grew up in Portland, which has very defined boundaries: ocean, mountain, desert, Tualatin. You feel at once contained and free.

What is your professional background? How did it lead you to writing The Lost Journals?

I started out as a dancer, working in shows in Europe and Japan, Puerto Rico, and even on a cruise ship—The Love Boat. This led to living in Las Vegas and attending UNLV, where my attention shifted away from dance and onto writing. In the novel, Katie has body issues—she thinks she’s a monstrous beast when she’s not—and I could relate to that. Growing up in the dance world, you are hyper-focused on your body during those critical adolescent years, and your thinking becomes warped. Starving and bingeing was a way of life, and it wasn’t until I started writing and found my voice that I allowed myself to eat. Eating always seemed wrong; it wasn’t something good, perfect, skinny girls did.

Now, I teach a seminar on body image and media, and it’s sad to see an entire classroom of young, beautiful eighteen-year-old women hating their bodies. It’s a feminist issue, and it’s insidious and crippling—and I don’t think you ever truly get over it. But calling it out—naming the aggression directed toward women in a consumer society—is a start.

Your book goes back and forth between the point of view of the two main characters, Professor Wilson Lavender and his wife Katie. Why did you chose this approach?

I don’t think I consciously chose it. I just sort of listened to the story emanating like ghostly curtains of light from my subconscious—the “basement guy,” Stephen King calls his muse—and did what felt right. I listened to my “basement lady.”

Did you know right away, or have an idea, how you were going to end the story? Or did it come to you as you were in the process of writing?

Writing a novel is like driving across the country. Halfway there you’re in Nebraska for, like, five days, and this is when the panic sets in. You’re never going to get where you’re going, and if you turn back, it’s going to take forever to get there, too. It’s all the North Platte River, over and over again—you keep crossing it, you’re going nowhere, you’re crying and calling your mom from the creepy hotel room, babies howling in the background, the elderly dog you were sure was going to die three days ago panting on the bed because you’re in the middle of a heat wave—this is what writing a novel is like.

My advice: Keep going. You will eventually leave Nebraska. You will eventually find your way home to the end of your story, and when you get there you’ll be shocked because you thought you had much farther to go. Endings sneak up on you—in novels and in life. Things are always over before they’re over. So appreciate the ride!

What did you learn from writing The Lost Journals – either about the subject of the book or the writing process – that most surprised you?

I learned how much I loved and respected my partner at the time, the writer Curtis Dawkins, on whom Wilson is based. Like the characters in the book, we fought all the time—for no reason at all! Who would be fine with the apocalypse happening right at that moment, and who never wanted the world to end? Oh my God, you two immature goons—WHO CARES?

Now when I read the book, I like Wilson best. Deep down, beneath his addiction and tortured genius and nonsense with his officemate Alice Cherry, he has integrity, and I admire that.

Who are your three (or four or five) favorite authors? Is your own writing influenced by who you read?

I imagine my favorite writers from childhood as guardian angels, even though they’re still alive. Beverly Cleary, for sure. One of my best memories is listening to my mom read Ellen Tebbits and then reading it myself. The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Henry Huggins. Heaven! When I see the statues of Henry and Ribsy and Ramona at Grant Park in Portland, I tear up. It’s like running into beloved childhood friends.

And Judy Blume, of course. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret was a wonderful lesson in how to be a young woman. And of course Forever BLEW MY MIND! These writers were strong women themselves, and they were kind and generous and respected their young readers.

My descriptive style is influenced by the late Jackie Collins. She was an amazing storyteller, and her description was so lush and vivid I often felt like eating her books. Literally. I loved her wild and sophisticated worlds. She made me want to write.

What kind of books do you like to read? What are you reading now?

I love memoirs, especially rock memoirs, like Cherie Currie’s Neon Angel. Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh is laugh-out-loud funny, and I can’t wait for her new book to come out in the spring. I want to read Chrissie Hynde’s memoir, and I love it that she told people to “just don’t buy the fucking book,” when she was called out for writing about her rape experience in a politically incorrect manner. Very punk rock!

Also, Lena Dunham’s memoir saved me on a horrible flight from Portland to Michigan. I was having severe panic, and the pilot had turned the heat up to what felt like 97 degrees. I just kept breathing and reading Lena’s book and finally—finally—we landed. Afterward, she felt like a friend, like someone I’d been through war with.

What is the most valuable advice you’ve been given as an author?

Write whatever you want. Be as weird as you are. Own it, work it—no one does you like you. But I don’t think anyone ever told me that. I think I told myself.

What is the best thing about being a writer?

Being able to live life twice. Being able to disappear into a dream world, one much more honest and beautiful and thrilling than “reality.” Being able to record, however fictionalized, moments in time that I can look back on now and think, Wow, life is horrific, yes, but it’s also absolutely beautiful. And so fleeting!

What’s next? Are you working on your next book?

I’ve written the sequel to The Lost Journals of Sylvia Plath. It’s called Violet, and will hopefully come out in the next year. I have a novella, My Blue World, on the website Novella T, and I’m working on a third novel about a perimenopausal single mom and her three wild teens. Oh, and a hot dad. And a guinea pig named Sparkle.

THANKS, KIMBERLY!

THE LOST JOURNALS OF SYLVIA PLATH IS AVAILABLE FROM POWELL'S OR AMAZON, OR ASK YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE TO ORDER IT!