Personal memories of Alice Munro, Nobel Laureate!

“That’s a lovely skirt. Tell me, is it difficult to iron all those pleats?”

In the green room of the North York Centre for the Performing Arts, I’m keeping Alice Munro company until it’s time for her to step on stage for her rare double-bill appearance with Robertson Davies. I’m not sure who’s minding Mr. Davies, but I definitely got the good gig!

Of course, I want to gush to her about how Friend of My Youth (her 7th and my cherished title) changed my life, about how her writing is such an inspiration and how reading it makes me somehow feel less alone.  But she wants to talk about something… anything else, as a way to calm her nerves. I’m happy to oblige her every need. In fact my job as the publicist for the Harbourfront Reading Series which is presenting the evening’s event, depends on seeing to her comfort. So, we talk about the challenges of keeping well-formed pleats in my skirt.

When she’s sufficiently relaxed, I shyly ask her to sign my copy.

That was in 1994. I declared my PR career could end then since I reached the ultimate goal of meeting and chatting with my favourite author.

Fast forward to 1998, Ms. Munro is up for the coveted Giller Prize for The Love of a Good Woman. I’m production coordinating the live-from-the-cocktail party portion of the Giller Prize broadcast on Bravo! where I work as PR director. Of course, the producers and hosts want to talk to her, but knowing as I do about her shyness and reluctance to be in the public eye, I keep telling them she will likely not show up until the absolute last minute. Sure enough, she sneaks by all the cameras into her seat in the Four Seasons ballroom.

Her acceptance speech is a very humble few words about how maybe now the short story will gain acceptance as a legitimate form of writing.

I didn’t speak to her that night, just simply basked in her graceful, winning aura.

In Vancouver in 2005, I get to talk to Alice Munro one more time after she accepts the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award in the atrium of the beautiful Vancouver Public Library main branch. I line up to congratulate her and to my absolute astonishment, she remembers me from those many years ago in the green room at the North York arts centre. I wish I could tell you what we talked about that day at the library. I think I was overwhelmed knowing she could recall ever meeting me!  She invited me into the small private gathering inside the library.

What I remember most is her warmth, grace and the generous way she spoke to her fans and colleagues that day.

I’m so pleased she’s won the Nobel. I can’t think of a more deserving or worthy Canadian writer whose first thought, when accepting this honour, was directed to those for whom she’s set the trail.

“I would really hope that this would make people see the short story as an important art, not just something that you played around with until you’d got a novel written.”

Sadly, Alice Munro has announced her retirement from writing.  But then again, she’s put so much of her singular talent out into the world, we can only be happy and grateful for it, and for her.