Murray to Del McBride, May 18, 1990 -- Autograph party perils

Delbert McBride, then the head of the Washington State Capitol Museum, asked Murray to speak at a dinner and sign books afterwards. Having done a few signings myself, I appreciate Murray's suggestions here. It is also a chance to say that Del was an important historian, artist, Native American activist, and chronicler of mid-century Northwest gay life, who deserves to be better known.  The photos are from the Delbert McBride Ethnobotanical Garden on the museum grounds.

 

Dear Del:

...The spectre of an after-dinner talk about my research touching on Olympia raises some guilt feelings because of the paucity of research I have committed in that area. However my father, a minister, always said one should not let the subject of a sermon interfere with what one wanted to talk about. With that caveat, I agree tranquilly to the assignment of singing informally for my supper for fifteen or twenty minutes, whichever it takes to produce somnambulance.

And yet another cavil. Autograph parties for Northwest authors in general and me in particular tend to turn into long conversations with the bookseller who explains that it is not the writer's inherent dullness nor his reputation as a typhoid Mary or an undercover agent for some government agency that keeps people away but rather the good weather, the bad weather, the opening of fishing season, the game between Oakland and the Mariners, or the first day of registration for the water district primary. This tends to be embarrassing for the bookseller who is not as used to it as the author. 

Might Carol McKinley settle for my stopping by and signing all books in the place and putting personal words on for anyone indicating desire for additional penmanship? This is a suggestion, not a refusal.

With much appreciation,

Murray