Blueprints

"Buy It"

 

 

Standing in our living room, with his family and friends seated and standing before him and a bottle of Talisker by his feet- Richard Heller read a few passages aloud from his recently published book Blueprints.  I bowed my head and closed my eyes, not wanting to be disturbed by those around.  I just wanted to hear his words; his voice.

 

The room and the house that Tim and I created were meant to serve us and others this way- to celebrate life’s moments.  In our quest to build a home, the design was deliberately drafted to create a space for family and friends.  But for reasons that I now know Richard can fully understand and appreciate, I distanced myself from my home and closed it off to others for a period of time.

 

During this dormant period, Richard was the one person sharing our space while putting the finishing touches on his book.  Our neighbor of nine years, tenant for nearly two, our friend and family member- Richard and Lyra and Daniel have become part of our lives.  When I returned from Provincetown last fall, I learned that Richard- in what seemed like no time at all- found a publisher for his first book.  Without pause, I offered our home as the perfect place for his book signing party.  And on Saturday, April 25th, as I leaned against the frame of my open front door, Richard’s steady stream of words helped to breathe new life into our home.

 

The room was filled with silence, periodic outbursts of laughter, the cracking of Richard’s voice when sharing the part about the loss of Arden, Pepsi and his beloved Curry- followed by chatter from the kitchen, not knowing that Richard had not finished reading.  Lyra sat quietly in the dining room listening to her husband’s voice.  What would have been interesting is if each person mentioned in the book- and many in attendance were- wore tags with both their real and literary names.  I had the previous pleasure of meeting and dining with Luka and June at their home and the Venice Scot shared his story with me out on our front porch, but it wasn’t until near the end of the party- after most guests had left- that I was introduced to Richard’s sister who had been there all afternoon.  Each character is so vital in the telling of Richard’s story and it is rare to find yourself surrounded by characters of a book.  Oh, what a dialogue might have ensued.

 

Blueprints is a tough book to categorize because it encompasses a lifetime of emotions on a journey that you- the reader- never tire of making.  Where you may not have lived this man’s experiences- and I would bet in large part you have not- you understand every instance he describes and nobody has ever said it  the way he does.  It is poetry in the form of a memoir that reads at times like great fiction.  More than just honest, it is a raw, tender, vulnerable and heartfelt story about a man so determined to be himself and experience love while reconciling the world around him.  Bias?  Maybe.  But I love this man and I love his book.

 

www.RichardAHeller.com

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