friend who died. I didn't wish to be
pregnant at 19 and brain dead at 30.
"I had rheumatic fever when I was
in middle-grade school and began to
read. Before that time, I had very lit-
tle interest in school and books.
Because I couldn't do anything else,
reading was an escape, and I came to
realize that there were options not
available to me otherwise. I was con-
vinced that knowledge was power and
knowledge was the way to go."
Piercy got a scholarship to the
University of Michigan and became
the first person in her family to
attend college. An English major, she
took a lot of writing courses. After
college, she went to France, and
when she returned to the United
States, she went to Northwestern on
a fellowship. She took part-time jobs
for many years before being able to
support herself by writing.
"Writing was what I wanted to do,
and I could see no other thing equal-
ly compelling," Piercy explains. "I
would have been an idiot to have
been an optimist [about that career
direction], but I was very stubborn."
Piercy, who has written about 30
books, recently collaborated with her
third husband, Ira Wood, for a novel,
Storm Tide, and a play, The Last

White Class.

"It's fun and much easier to write
as a collaborator," says Piercy, who
enjoys cooking and tending to her
garden filled with vegetables, fruit
trees and flowers. "I write every day.
I'm one of those weird writers who
actually enjoys writing.
"Poetry is more intense and con-
centrated so I can't do it for more
than two hours [at a time]. First
drafts of a novel also are fairly drain-
ing, so I do that for three or four
hours. By the time I'm up to the
fourth or fifth draft, I can work 12-
hour days. The farther along the draft
is, the faster I can work."
The Detroit-bred writer respects
the reactions of her readers and hopes
that each one will take away very per-
sonal insights from her books.
"To me, the truth [of each book]
is what comes together in the mind
of each.reader, and it will be different
from somebody else's truth," Piercy
says. 7

Marge Piercy will speak about
Three Women at the sold-out
Oct. 11 Detroit Book & Author
Luncheon at Burton Manor in
Livonia.

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Adults $16.95
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DINNER:

Sat. starting Oct. 16

1 hour after Shabhat

Sun. Thurs. 5:00 = 9.00

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West Bloomfield, Michigan • Robins Nest Plaza

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Reservations Su
VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT:

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Champagne Reception

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Crosswinds Mall
West Bloomfield, MI 48322

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Mon. thru Sat. 10 a.m.- 9 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. (Carry-Out) 9 p.m.-11 p.m.

DAILY LUNCH & DINNER SPECIALS

PIZZA - RIBS - FISH
HOMEMADE GARLIC BREAD

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10/8

1999

Detroit Jewish News

87