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Remembering Bill Holm
Published 6:00am Sunday, May 31, 2009For this week’s column I’d like to share with you a gem of a postcard that I just received in the mail from Bill Holm’s wife, Marcy. It’s a reminder to me that, when we lost Bill Holm this year, we lost a great writer, a greater speaker, a great orator, and a Minnesota literary genius — as well as piano player, poet, essayist and friend to many, family to many and Marcy’s best pal. In these words from the family of Bill Holm I found much solace, and much to remember about a great man. He left us with a lot to remember him by. Our loss is the man himself and the words he might have put on paper in the future. But, it occurs to me, that the arts are something permanent. That novels and poems and plays and short stories and essays outlive us all.
This week I share these words with you. They are a treasure trove.
Side I of postcard
Advice
Someone dancing inside us
has learned only a few steps:
the “Do-Your-Work” in 4/4 time,
the “What-Do-You-Expect” Waltz.
He hasn’t noticed yet the woman
standing away from the lamp,
the one with black eyes
who knows the rumba,
and strange steps in jumpy rhythms.
from the mountains of Bulgaria.
If they dance together,
something unexpected will happen.
If they don’t, the next world
will be a lot like this one.
BILL HOLM
Side II of postcard
Thank you so very much for your kind words and deeds after Bill’s death. We, and Bill, are lucky to have such friends and family as you.
If there is anything that we/I can do, just say the word. We heard that sentence countless times after Bill’s death…and appreciated it every time. Now we have figured out what it is that you might do:
Volunteer for something you believe in.
Read
Write or record a story – your story – for your family.
Take a walk.
Read short stories.
Travel.
Have your neighbors/friends in for dinner.
Read poetry.
Donate to a food shelf.
Plant a garden (a bean or a flower pot counts).
Read fiction.
Take a class
Go to a concert or museum, or both. And repeat.
Read essays.
Take a nap.
Laugh.
Read newspapers.
Take an active part in your community.
Visit the library.
Read history.
Dance.
Keep a journal
Love each other.
P.S. Did we mention, read?
