Of CSI, Italy and the Island
Author Erica Jong,
graduation speaker, lauds nation as 'home' and borough as
'welcoming'
Staten Island Advance - June 1, 2005
When Erica Jong headlines the College of Staten
Island's graduation ceremonies tomorrow as the school's commencement
speaker, students will hear from a world-renowned novelist, essayist
and poet. From a cultural icon whose wit and candor enlightened and
instructed a generation in the throes of a sexual revolution. (See
"Fear of Flying," 1973.) From a woman whose satire and social
commentary continue to instruct. From a romantic whose love affair
with Italy makes her feel like something of an honorary Staten
Islander every time she sets foot on these shores. From -- wait a
minute -- an honorary Staten Islander?
"My adopted home is Italy," Ms. Jong told me the other day during a
phone interview. "There are a lot of Italian-Americans on Staten
Island.... I have friends there. I find it welcoming."
"My minor when I was at Barnard was Italian," explained Ms. Jong. "I
fell in love with Italian language and living. I've traveled all
over the country. For years I've rented houses there."
'OTHER LIFE IN ITALY'
Most recently in Venice, in March, to celebrate her 63rd birthday.
"I have," added Ms. Jong, "a whole other life in Italy."
Who knew?
Well, if you had read the book jacket on her novel set in 16th
century Venice (see "Serenissima," 1987), you would have learned
that she minored in Italian in college.
And in case you're wondering if there is some other connection
between Ms. Jong and Staten Island, besides the Italian one, that
has her speaking at CSI, there is: Her son-in-law, Matthew
Greenfield, is a tenured English professor at CSI.
"He absolutely loves CSI," said Ms. Jong of the man married to her
daughter, writer Molly Jong. "He loves the students."
Which made her more than a little happy to accept the speaking
engagement here.
'HUGE ACHIEVEMENT'
"I hope to spend the entire day at the college," said Ms. Jong, who
spent part of the long Memorial Day weekend penning the remarks she
will deliver. (No canned commencement addresses for her audience.)
"I look forward to meeting the students and their parents
afterward," she said.
As for the commencement address, if CSI graduates are expecting any
the-world-is-your-oyster pronouncements from Ms. Jong, they can
forget it.
"They have made a huge achievement," said Ms. Jong, "but it is a
celebration mixed with anxiety. It is a moment in one's life that
can be terrifying. The great unknown beckons. It is a time of
enormous uncertainty, a time of turmoil. Are there going to be jobs
out there?"
What they can expect is an old-fashioned pat on the back.
"The students I'm going to be talking to have a lot to celebrate,"
said Ms. Jong. "A commencement is a big celebration, but the
students, and their families, have made many sacrifices. There are
people who drop out of college, who can't afford it. Sadly, tuition
is no longer free. It is so important to keep free tuition, at least
in certain places. The great days of our city university system,
when people could go for nothing, are over. Our society is rich
enough to be able to afford education for all. It is sad that we
lost the ideal of free education."
This from a former CUNY professor who taught literature and freshman
English in the late '60s, back in the days when CUNY was free.
And as for penning her words, as opposed to tapping them out on her
laptop keyboard, Ms. Jong still takes yellow legal pad and roller
ball pen in hand "when I want to be free" as a writer.
"When I write an essay or a book review, I use my computer laptop,"
she said. "But I find myself freest when I scrawl."
What she has been scrawling lately is a book due out next spring
called "Writing For My Life," which is a memoir about, you guessed
it, a writer's life.
Also, a novel about turning 60. (See the prequel, "Fear of Fifty: A
Midlife Memoir," 1994.)
Also, a volume of poetry.
"I have been saving up poems, writing them and saving them up," said
Ms. Jong.
LIBERATING TALE
Still, no matter what she writes longhand or on her PC, she will be
forever known, first and foremost, for the book that made her
famous, "Fear of Flying," an erotic and liberating tale, or a
pornographic one, depending on your view of the world.
Having sold 12 million copies, in 27 languages, does a day ever go
by when she is not asked at least one question about it, I asked Ms.
Jong.
"If I could do one thing," she sighed, "it would be to be not so
well-known for one book."
By
Judy L. Randall
Reprinted here with permission from the
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