Sunday, November 17, ,1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday1 November 17, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Five
___________PROFILE
CHRIS CHRISTIAN
From Philly streets
to the local literati
By SARA RIMER in the eyes that was." The ex-
CHRIS CHRISTIAN is a plosion was catalyzedby see-
stocky, navy-blue sweat- ing whites as victims, too. I1
suited fixture at Waterman started looking at them as peo-
Gym. The assorted crew of ple for the first time. It sort
jocks, volleyball hacks, karate of liberated me."
zealots, and flab fighters who Christian came here to earn
hang out there know him as a B.A. in psychology and a mas-
the "guy in the funny knit cap ters degree in urban studies. He
who does eight miles a day and looks off, mystified again. "Fun-
throws in a few rounds on the ny thing in Philly - any black
punching bag." Last spring students that went to college
Christian made himself known were sissies. So what am I do-
off the track and on the stage ing here?" Christian was zap-
with the successful production of ped by "the culture shock of
his first play, "The Killers." blacks coming to a super mid-
Christian shucked the s w e a t dle class place." His recent
suit for his interview, showing ; script, "Culture Shock", w a s
up instead in beige pants, a spurred by his headlong crash
bold-blue, shawl-collared sweat- into "alienating" life at t h e
er, and blue bandana round his university. Anger flashes across
neck. But he dragged an old Christian's face when he dis-
laundry bag, grinning, "I just cusses the campus mood.
came from the gym." Despite Everyone's out for their own
his marathon exercise binges, personal peace and affluence.
Christian pats a persistent It's like everybody's closing the
paunch, admitting, "I've got door"
this tremendous food habit."
In his thirty years, Christian A FTER WATCHING Arthur
has played a whole cast of Miller's "Misfits" on TV two
real-life roles. Gesturing wi t h years ago, Christian was fired
the hands that throw h a r d up by Clark Gable and Marilyn
punches at the bag, he sketch- Monroe to write his first play.
es out a fighting past. He tough- Without a place to stay or a
ed it out on the Philadelphia job, he scrawled out the script
streets as a "Tioga T" gang on the diag with ease. He ex-
leader, shuttled between reform plains, "Maybe I'm overconfi-
schools and foster homes, and dent, but it's so damn e a s y.
Have a few extra moments
during the day? Need
something to occupy your mind?
THEN, tuck a copy of
Crossword Puzzle
under your arm.
PRESENTS
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won 70 out of 73 boxing match-
es in Atlantic City.
During his days as astreet
gang honcho, he says an old
skid row alcoholic and former
university professor"grabbed
him and told him, "Be wherel
the money is." Briefly, Christ-
ian found the money in other
people's pockets. When the Phil-
adelphia police clamped the
cuffs on him for the gang wars,
Christian ended up "running a
cell block, called E-1." "I even-
tually got the shit beat out of
me for taking up for a white
guy they were ganging up on,'
he recalls. He pauses to em-
phasize important motivation.
"I've always felt for the under-
dog."
CHRISTIAN remembers t h e
years when recognition
came from "calling someone a
motherfucker," saying, "I was
afraid to let people know I was
nice. I have a killer instinct, but
a passive one at the same
time -- Dr. 'Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde." He appearsmystified at
the schism and shakes his head.
"It's so strange."
Beginning to recoil from box-
ing's "brutality," Christian be-
came involved with children
through a VISTA program in
Washington, D.C. He leans back'
and says, "Man, what a bang
'The Killers' just happened.
When I sit down and just relate
from where I've been, wow - D
it's great. The spirit comes in-
to the letter and it's all there."
No student teching ,at BelRADUT-S
leville High School, he sayst ,
he has come to appreciate his GR D A E
varied background. "Now that
~I'm teaching in high school, I ~ANII ~ nN
felfrtne toinhave ve aCAPS AND GOWNS
nomadic life, almost a wild be
child. Talk about a midnight must be ordered by
cowboy-sh-e-e-e-it !"
Christian laughs when he re- NOV. 19
veals his giant-size hang-up. "I
want to save the world." He PLACE YOUR ORDER AT THE
adds, "I told the Career Plan-
ning and Placement Office that *cel
when any job turns up in any universic l
city that no one else wants,
give me a call." 769-7940
TIE DRUMS out his philosophy
with emphatic hand mo-
tions. "You've got to build with- I
in the mess. You're gonna be
knocked down. It's hard."
He hands over the script of CTRAVEL MICH. UNION 763-214
"Culture Shock" for comments a ui
and picks up the ancient laun-
dry bag, concluding as he leav-
es, "I want to be writing, but'
that's secondary. I want to be DOMESTIC FLIGHTS
an activist, to get back into
life. That's where it really is." ! SPECIAL FARES
Sara Rimer is a Daily staff,
writer.
writr. S VE CHRISMAS-Deadline Nov. 19
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