Spotlight On Writers
Lou Storey
- Where do you originate from?
My Origins? Short answer, USA, New Jersey, post WWII, both parents were war veterans. I was born into the boom of babies who believed we’d reshape the world. My DNA results go back even further, crossing the Atlantic into Northern England, Switzerland, Sicily. My bedrock of origin, going way, way back, is 3% Neanderthal, a fact I have shared enough times with friends to earn eyerolls. However, I can’t compete with my husband, born in Ethiopia!
- What do you cherish most about the place you call home?
We can divide the world neatly into Inside People and Outside People. I am the quintessential Inside guy, nature is nice through thick screens. Question 2 steals the thunder from question 4 because HOME is my favorite word. I love how the steadfast two-legged H and the generous sturdy M bookend the wobbly O, keeping it safe, Humpty Dumpty kept off the wall. The E stands for everything, which is what home offers. Why even step outside? So, not a party guy, not Mr. Natural, but an invitation to our house for dinner, you don’t want to miss it!
- What ignites your creativity?
A friend pointed out that I am most productive in the morning after two cups of coffee. Was she reducing my muse to mere caffeine? Let’s call creativity an energy you put out into the world. I think to some degree we all have it, that need to give something, create something, dig up something, pull something apart to make it better. I watched a bird building a nest just outside my window. Piece by piece, bits of straw, twig, leaf, and then, even better, circling it and yanking parts out in annoyance, necessary edits. I’ve been there, birdy, I know your pain.
- Do you have a favorite word and could you incorporate it into a poetic phrase?
Every day I have a new favorite word, usually it jumps out at me from reading the newspaper. Redoubtable. Antipodean. Rapacious. Imbroglio. Dipsomania. Uxorious. Sublunary. I don’t know what any of them mean, which makes them special, so I write them in my iPhone notes, Google the definitions, fully intending to one day use them and sound very smart. I never have (used them or sounded smart), but let’s use Kludge—which is a poorly constructed solution. Here goes:
Poor Mister Scrooge,
his droll attempts at love
were, at best, a kludge.
- What is your pet peeve?
I love that term, pet peeve. I imagine it as small and fluffy, very yappy, knit booties and a pink ribbon pulling its hair into a snowball head. My darling pet has a diamond studded collar to which I hook my gold leash. Together we walk through the neighborhood, the two of us putting on airs making it clear with our superior nose-tilt posture that we are better than everyone else. There, that’s my pet peeve, people who think (know?) they are better than me.
- How would you describe the essence of Lou Storey?
“Must you make everything into a joke?” my husband of 36 years asked (imagine how he’s suffered). I explained to him that just behind every clown’s goofy façade is a molten lava layer of accumulated Mount Vesuvian fury wanting to burst forth, bury in hot ash every Pompeii slight, insult, unfair demand and perceived shortcoming. Just under that layer is a steaming cesspool of longing and unmet needs so dire it makes a Hieronymus Bosh painting look like a reasonable neighborhood in which to invest.
He thanked me, “Keep the clown” he said.
Honestly, the essence of Lou Storey? My friends would have lots of nice things to say about me, at least to my face.
- Spotlight On Writers – Lou Storey - December 21, 2024
- Interview Q&A With Lou Storey - November 19, 2024
- All Hallows’ Eve Brunch - October 22, 2024
