I’ve enjoyed a bunch of stories that Sampiro has posted over the years. Some have been about growing up. Some about current times with the occasional Vonnegut-esque flashbacks, sometimes in mid-sentence. But they’ve always been packed with more crazy than a Tennessee Williams / William Faulkner MMA cage match.
I’m not the only one to feel that way, of course, and many folks have mentioned so across the years. But Sampiro’s has always been decidedly against publishing them, and my recollection is that he worried about his stories making his way back to some of the subject material and hurting folks’ feelings.
Well, let me tell you. Sampiro, from what I’ve read, your mom was a great woman. Flawed, but great. She deserves to have her tales told, and deserves to have them told by you, a man who quite clearly loves her very dearly, and deserves to have them told to more folks than the couple of thousand souls who have read your recollections here on these boards.
Now, I don’t know what your current calendar is looking like. I’m not sure where your current morale is at, either. But if you can find the time, and if you can build up the drive, I’m hoping you’ll put pen to paper, write down some of those old stories, or maybe some new ones, and ship them on out to a couple of the uncaring obelisks that are the modern-day publishing industry.
Yeah, the biz is a harsh industry, so a couple of places will probably reject the stories. But I’m betting that at least one of them will see the spark that so many of us here on these boards have seen.
He’s too good for us to keep to ourselves. Although I’d say more Flannery O’Conner than Faulkner. Yes, his sister will be unhappy, but he is a wonderful writer. I suspect the copyrights are owned by Chicago Reader if posted here.
Coming in to second, or third, the OP – most especially the third paragraph. Competent raconteur are scarce – ones with Sampiro’s gifts for storytelling and the deep love he bore a one-of-a-kind woman who bore him, vanishingly rare. That book will sell!
As I understand it, not so. Each of us owns copyright to our own posts. By posting our words here, we give the Chicago Reader, Inc., (and presumably Creative Loafing, now, as owners of the Reader) a nonexclusive copyright to use our materal if it so desires.
I was thinking this the other day. I (mostly) lurk, and I have a friend who lurks by way of “here this is good-interesting-funny, etc.” emails. On the drive home the other day, he asked how Sampiro was doing, and I replied “I think he’s still living in the mamaleum”. We both wondered when he was going to try to get published.
Then we wondered at the insanity of talking about a man as if we knew him and hoping he was doing well, when I can’t be sure if we’ve ever had any interaction with him.
Of course, Sampiro would probably meet a couple of lovely eccentric characters when he simply goes out to buy the pen and paper. Good! A whole new chapter for us.
Yes, I do wish you would, Sampiro. I’d buy it.
Here’s a thought - somebody dig out his real address and we will all send him pens until he gets bored with his house overflowing with biros and bics and nice ink pens and cartridge pens and feather quills and even pencils and crayons and gets the hint.
(Yes, mods that was definitely a joke, not serious, re. real-life address)
Another vote for Sampiro to write a book. Lurker for nearly 6 years here. Love love LOVE Sampiro’s stories. And I’d spread the word far and wide about his book, in addition to buying an (advanced!) copy of my own.
Now that the board’s free, maybe he’ll see how much his stories are enjoyed - not just in the insular p2p community, but by the numerous lurkers (and whoever happens to open his future book jacket ;))
That’s my recollection, too. I remember a thread asking people to vote for which opening sentence they found most gripping. (I loved the story in the grocery store with his father and grandmother as an opener, not that I said so at the time or anything.)
And I’ll add my voice to the growing crowd here – Sampiro, please please get that book out! I’ve made room on my shelf right next to my David Sedaris collection, and I’m poised to order copies for every single person I know (and like) as their birthday present. You’ll not only be greatly enriching the world with your wonderful stories, but simplifying my gift shopping! Any chance I can wheedle you into putting out one book a year so that I never have to think about what to give people again?
Has some enterprising person with more time than me put together an anthology of Sampiro threads on here? A thread with links to each of his stories, in order for those of us who are late getting in to the party, would be a great success. I haven’t the faintest idea where to start, though.
