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| Did it accelerate tensions or create conflicts that perhaps someone with a | | Did it accelerate tensions or create conflicts that perhaps someone with a |
| more stable identity of either insider or outsider might not encounter? | | more stable identity of either insider or outsider might not encounter? |
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| '''JML''': Oh, I think that there were definitely losses that came from him jumping back and forth across that fence. But, overall, I think that it was a plus.
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| It enabled him to maintain his singular critical perspective. For example,
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| giving up two years of his life leading PEN meant he wasn’t writing much
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| during that time, and he had regrets about that. But once he was in it, he
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| stuck to his commitment, including organizing and hosting the 1986 International PEN conference, and rewriting the bylaws of the organization. Gay
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| Talese told me that Norman came in and organized numerous committees,
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| and this required rewriting the bylaws. They were needed, so Norman just
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| sat down and personally re-wrote them. Gay Talese could not believe it. Well,
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| that was Norman; he threw himself right into things.
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| He lost a lot of time, however, doing things like that. Another example
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| was running for mayor of New York with Jimmy Breslin. He gave away a big
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| chunk of time in 1969 on that campaign He said that, if elected, he would
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| give up writing. I think he must have had his fingers crossed when he said
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| that. All of these forays, including filmmaking, cost him a great deal of lost
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| time and he had regrets. But, on the other hand, there was a part of him that
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| rebelled against the grind of writing six hours a day, six days a week, and felt
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| the need to get out in the world and get roughed up. Right to the end he was
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| seeking new experience, which he once called “the church of one’s acquired
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| knowledge.”
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| ... | | ... |