Seeing Peter Matthiessen Tonight

Peter Matthiessen, co-founder of The Paris Review, novelist, naturalist, nonfiction writer and fly fisherman, appeared tonight at Benaroya Hall, as final speaker in Seattle Arts & Lectures' 2005-2006 Lecture Series. He's another of the elders at the head of the queue, vividly lit and about to slip off the edge of this flat earth. In his talk he mentioned another of his generation who's died in the last couple of days. They're all heading out to sit on the ice so the rest of us can make it through the winter pretty danged soon. I'm not saying he sounded dotty or tired, this is just the truth. In fact, he sounded passionate, allowed himself the privilege of meandering in and among his subjects, calling himself "old and garrulous." He's a champion of ANWR, a lover of research and fiction, and he was garrulous, relaxed, and entertaining. The Q&A ended with him riffing on a question about whether or not his zen practice makes him optimistic. He said something about our needing to accept what we humans are - animals capable of anything, both in the positive and violent sense. The last century, he said, was the most violent in the history of human beings. What kind of progress is that? He ended by saying of a representative human, he's a pretty great person, but he'll stick a fork on you in the lifeboat.