Whiskey-A-Go-Go!
It's been a long time since I stumbled across an outdoor stall offering Whiskey Tasting in Scotland; I couldn't believe my luck, at the time, but thought the guy was joking when he described one as being 'smokey & peaty' - until I tried it, and sure enough!
A long time, too, since I played truant from school one afternoon and sat on the beach reading Arthur Miller's 'The Crucible' while swigging from a half bottle of whiskey - the rough kind, before I discovered the delight of double malt....all fond memories now....
But happy to reach back onto the shelf for some whiskey-associated writing & poetry....and happily stumbled right into a book title: The Whiskey of Our Discontent, that led me to its beautiful author, a poet I had never heard of: Gwendolyn Brooks. Her 1st poem was published when she was just 13, with more than 75 by the age of 16. She read in prisons; hospitals; schools, and to President Kennedy. She was the 1st African-American to win the Pulitzer Prized for Poetry (1949), and the 1st black woman to become US Poet Laureate.
What a treasure! On the evening she was called at home to inform her she'd won the Pulitzer Prize, she was sitting on her sofa with the lights off - not having been able to pay the bill. The following day her apartment filled with reporters and photographers; she couldn't bring herself to say anything, but there was no need- the situation became obvious when they tried to plug in their equipment. She never did fin out who quietly paid her electricity bill. The main focus of her work was on social issues: racism; sexism; class, and her personal experiences I'm so glad to have found her over a glass or two of virtual whiskey; she has a beautiful soul.
And this interesting article by Blake Morrison on why writers drink:
Too many lives ravaged by the need for alcohol.
There's something about the word, however you choose to spell it, it has a certain quality - I saw it being used in the title of so many poetry collections! Whisk - Whirl - Wistful - a cry.
Simple Whiskey - by Ben Gulyas, from www.athenswordofmouth.com
Confusion? Well, it comes with the territory!
Cheers!
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