Ah, finally some time to catch up after the recent crunch of my play FACING EAST in San Francisco. (Story of upstanding Mormon couple dealing with the suicide of their gay son.) How great to have the play here in my home territory. Here’s what the Salt Lake Tribune theater writer, who flew in for the event, said of our opening night:

“FACING EAST” GETS WEST COAST STANDING OVATION--

“A packed, oversold house, a standing ovation and a gush of tears greeted the opening-night performance of Carol Lynn Pearson’s ‘Facing East,’ a Utah-incubated drama now playing on the boards of the country’s oldest gay theatre….The opening-night audience at the Mission District’s Theatre Rhinoceros appeared to be a mixed crowd, ranging from gay theatergoers to local LDS members, and Utahns, native and California transplants, all drawn by Pearson’s work and the play’s themes. ‘I can look around this room and I swear half of my ward is here,’ said Lane Robison, a friend of the Walnut Creek playwright who describes her work as both eloquent and hard-hitting.”

See the full article at: http://nomoregoodbyes.com/RevPlayTrib08-12-07.htm
'Facing East' gets West Coast standing ovation - By Ellen Fagg
The Salt Lake Tribune

And hear a terrific hour I had with San Francisco’s top talk show host, Ronn Owens, of KGO at: http://www.planbtheatrecompany.org/work/mp3/kgo-11.mp3 (fast-forward into the recording approximately 5-1/2 minutes).

TO ORDER “FACING EAST,” “NO MORE GOODBYES” (two free chapters at website) OR “MOTHER WOVE THE MORNING,” visit www.nomoregoodbyes.com

“THE SAME HEART BEATS IN EVERY HUMAN BREAST.” That statement from Matthew Arnold is one that my former husband Gerald loved to repeat. I quoted it as I stood on the stage after our opening night performance and participated in the discussion with the audience. There we were—some of my favorite Mormons with their spouses (members of stake presidencies, bishops, high councilmen, Relief Society presidents) and some of my favorite gay people with their partners—hearts and minds united in caring and grieving and hoping and reaching for better understanding. The same wonderful mix—gay, straight, Mormon, Jewish, Evangelical, non-religious—continued with our other audiences. I watched, one night as the play ended, a young woman in tears fiercely embrace her gay brother who had recently made a suicide attempt, and I thought—as a writer, as a human, it doesn’t get any better than this. I am so grateful.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE “FACING EAST” IN YOUR AREA? The play is now available for other companies to produce. If you know of a capable Regional Theater and would personally recommend it for their consideration, write me for a complimentary playbook. The play is now being scheduled by a company in New York and two companies in Southern Utah. This newsletter will inform you as plans progress.

“NO MORE GOODBYES” NOMINATED FOR LIBRARY AWARD:

“We are very pleased to inform you that, NO MORE GOOBYES: CIRCLING THE WAGONS AROUND OUR GAY LOVED ONES by Carol Lynn Pearson has been recommended for nomination for the 2008 Stonewall Book Award…, an official award of the American Library Association.”

And just as rewarding are the emails I continue to receive from readers:

“We are reading [No More Goodbyes] together [my mom and I], and are talking about it! We talked for three hours about a subject she is usually very uncomfortable with and she seemed peaceful. It was amazing!...Love, J.”

“I just finished your new book, No More Good-byes. I loved it. I love you. Although I received it quite a while ago, I only felt compelled to read it as I am starting to prepare for my Relief Society lesson on Strengthening Families. I will be coming out to my Relief Society as a supporter of homosexuals and their families, in particular, and all people who struggle and their families, in general. Thank you, thank you. Love, L.”

CLP PHILOSOPHIZES: “KEEP THE WORMS OUT!” In my last newsletter I quoted Leonardo DaVinci suggesting that we look at everything for its hidden meaning, and I told the story of my being been set on fire twice at BYU and being “on fire” all my life (for past Newsletter editions, see http://www.nomoregoodbyes.com/Newsletters.htm). A few weeks ago--as I was recovering from the utter humiliation of somehow having allowed a “worm” to get into my computer system and send out not one, but multiple random spam attacks to everyone in my Outlook Express (some of you were among them)—I thought, “Okay, meaning, hidden meaning. Is there a metaphor here?”
It occurred to me, as I was coming down from a hike in the hills just a few days after I had paid $150 to have my computer de-wormed, that I was watching my mind behave exactly as my computer had. Something had happened that annoyed me. I dismissed it. Two minutes later my mind played it again and I was annoyed again. I dismissed it. Four minutes later my mind played it again and I was annoyed again. I dismissed it. Finally I stopped walking and said to myself in exasperation, “What stupid worm in my own mind is sending out multiple useless spam messages to me, cluttering my brain and sapping my emotional energy???”
I do that now and then. Maybe you do too. Some of the gay people I’ve been hearing from have a worm in their system that over and over sends out spam messages telling them that they are unworthy, defective, unloved of God.
The worms that have gotten into my mind have cost me more than money. My favorite text, A Course in Miracles, tells me to be ever vigilant of my thoughts and let in only what is real. Its very simple virus protection is “Only Love is Real.” When a worm manages to get through, the remedy (sometimes instant, sometimes not) is the counter-thought, “I could know Peace instead of this.” That is a good shield. I recommend it.

TO ORDER “FACING EAST,” “NO MORE GOODBYES” OR “MOTHER WOVE THE MORNING, visit www.nomoregoodbyes.com

“Your mind is the power by which you separate or join, and experience pain or joy accordingly.”
--A Course in Miracles

Yay for September, my favorite month!

Love to all,
Carol Lynn