Arts & Entertainment
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I've Got A Secret from page 19C
"My dad died when I was 9 and I con-
vinced myself he'd faked his own death for
some reason (undercover agent, chased by
mob, etc.) and that he would come back
some day. When I was 12, I found out from
my psychiatrist that this is a pretty stupid
idea. I'm 25 now I still wonder when it'll be
safe for him to come out of hiding and find
me." *
Does the opportunity to remain anony-
mous, though, also mean the opportunity
to pretend?
"Are all the secrets true?" Warren says.
"There are different levels of 'true: You
can't really judge the value of a card as
something dependent on veracity. No one
dismisses fiction in bookstores; no one
says,`I'm not going to read this because it's
not all fact: Sometimes, fiction speaks a
truth deeper than nonfiction."
Choosing which secrets to include — in
an exhibit, on the Web or in a book — is
sometimes a challenge because so many
are extraordinary, not just in what they
reveal but in the design. More often than
not, the cards are works of art. They are
filled with photos and drawings, paint-
ings and collages of bits of bright ribbon,
scraps torn from magazines, a twig, a
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October 18 • 2007
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piece of fabric, a sticker
of a leaf.
"I try to pick the ones that
express something new or
speak to me Warren says.
Sometimes those secrets haunt
him.
"There was one that said some-
thing like, 'When my friends complain
about their moms, I always act like I
can empathize and I joke along with them,
but I would give my arm to still have my
mom alive."'
He likes the less anguished ones, too,
like the card covered with gift wrap and
bearing the message, "Every Christmas
and holiday I hope your stupid wrapping-
paper collection catches on fire and burns
your house down."
"I hate working as a janitor for arrogant
rich people, so I clean their computer key-
boards with the toilet brush." *
Terri Stearn is director of the Janice
Charach Gallery.
She was wandering the aisles at a book-
store and saw a copy of Warren's first
book, My Secret: A PostSecret Book. She
picked it up, and she couldn't put it down.
"Reading the cards seemed to connect
3
' fi
everyone in some way;
she says. It showed
that a lot of us
have the same
problems, frus-
trations, love and
hate. It made me feel
like the world really isn't
that big.
"I also liked reading everyone's
secrets. It was like peeping into the souls
of strangers. I admit that now I'm a
PostSecret addict, and I go on the Web site
every Sunday, when [Frank] updates the
cards, to see what is new."
One secret that will never be revealed on
the Web or anywhere else: where Warren
keeps his massive collection. "I store
the cards in a secret location:' he says,
and hopes to donate them one day to a
museum.
And don't look for Warren to bend on
this. He's good at keeping a secret, his 13-
year-old daughter, Halley, says. "But my
mother is better at keeping the girly ones."
"Dear Birthmother: I have great parents.
I've found love. I'm happy" *
In addition to his work on PostSecret,
Frank Warren is a volunteer for
Hopeline/1-800-SUICIDE and a longtime
advocate of suicide prevention. In 2006,
he received an award from the National
Mental Health Association in recogni-
tion for the way in which PostSecret has
"moved the cause of mental health for-
ward."
* Secrets revealed on www.postsecret.com
Elizabeth Applebaum is a marketing spe-
cialist at the Jewish Community Center of
Metropolitan Detroit.
"PostSecret" runs Oct.25-Dec.20 at
the Janice Charach Gallery, located
in the Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit, 6600 W.
Maple Road, in West Bloomfield.
Hours are Mondays-Wednesdays,
10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m.-7
p.m.; and Sundays, noon-4 p.m. The
opening night program, at 6:30 p.m.
Thursday, Oct. 25, will feature Frank
Warren and includes postcards both
from the national collection and
local contributions. For more infor-
mation, call (248) 432-5448.