In Memory of David Bartholomy

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“I am from the future but becoming the past.”—David Bartholomy

He would not answer to “Mr. Bartholomy.”  He had his students call him “Bart.”  He died Saturday. 

No one influenced my writing more than this man.  I am almost certain I would not have become a novelist if not for him.  Meeting him forever changed me. 

The above quote came from one of Bart’s countless writing exercises, from one of the three times I took his Wednesday night creative writing class at Brescia University.  (He was also my teacher for ENG 101, ENG 102, Journalism 1 & 2, and Contemporary American Literature.)  When he had us do his exercises, he always did them himself.  Think about that: This was a teacher who gladly did his own assignments.

I can’t remember the writing prompt that produced the above quote (which I can confirm he came up with on the spot), but I can still remember it twenty years later because it’s so perfect—especially the first part.  Yes, Bart was from the future.  Anybody that had him as a teacher knows what I mean.  He was so ahead of all of us in his progressive thinking, his intellectual forms of rebellion, his iconoclastic attitudes. 

But “…becoming the past?”  I remember even back then that this part bothered me.  I thought, “Don’t you see?  You’re younger than WE are.”  But at the time he wrote it, he was around sixty, and obviously aging was on his mind.  More on this later . . .   

After our time in the classroom together ended, we remained friends through the years, and I would often visit him in the office you see in the photo.  Stepping into that office was like entering the psychotic brain of a bohemian saint.  The books, the records, the pictures of his dear family—just stepping into this room made you five percent cooler every time you visited.

If you’re one of my German or French readers, you’ve actually already met Bart.  He was the basis for a supporting character named “Slim” in I Against Osborne.  (America, apparently, is still not ready for Slim but might catch up someday in the future.)

If you’ve been one of my former students, you’ve heard me speak of Bart many times.  When we first do fast-writes (a.k.a. free-writes) I always offer the same introduction:

“I learned fast-writes from the man who taught me how to write.  We called him Bart.  He was taller than God and had a beard before beards were cool.  He was this charismatic, Bob Dylan-loving, bearded English teacher type, but so much more.  He was intimidating at first but when you heard how softly he spoke and how he used green ink instead of red because it was less violent, you would soon realize he was a kind man.  He was not quite a hippie, not quite a beatnik.  I even detected some punk rock, but maybe I was projecting.  Anyway, this guy went all out for his fast-writes.  He would sometimes turn out all the lights, light some candles, and play some smooth jazz.  I would think, ‘Man, are you trying to teach us or seduce us?’” 

In terms of literature and writing, he most definitely seduced me.  One Wednesday night, in helping me figure out which author to pick for my author report, we had a conversation that I now see helped lead me toward my later career: 

“What kind of stuff do you read, Joey?”
“Uh . . . Mostly biographies on wrestlers.”
“I think we need to have you try something new.  I know of an author that I think you’ll like.”

He loaned me his copy of Cat’s Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, who would go on to become my favorite writer.  I have been a lover of literary fiction ever since.  (He also turned me on to Charles Bukowski, Raymond Carver, and Tom Robbins.  This led me to send my first novel to Robbins, and miraculously Robbins agreed to write me a blurb.  I am told that his blurb helped get me some attention at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which eventually led to me finding my audience in Germany.) 

Bart’s own textbook, Sometimes You Just Have to Stand Naked, is one that I have turned to repeatedly through the years for guidance in my writing.

One more pivotal conversation:

“These screenplays you keep turning in . . . Why are the lead characters always these dumb losers?”
“They’re supposed to be kind of like Adam Sandler movies.”
“They’re funny, but I can’t like a character like this.  I can’t root for him.”

So then, when I was twenty, I wrote the screenplay for The Anomalies for his creative writing class.  The lead characters were not loveable dumbasses.  Instead, they were wildly individualistic, confident forces of nature.  (A psycho-analyst might point out that Bart was actually helping me see myself in a different light.)

My all-time favorite moment as a writer was after he read the first thirty pages of The Anomalies screenplay, then came in the Broadcast office where I was nervously sitting on the couch, awaiting his response.  (His approval meant the world to me, from the very first class on.) 

He came in. I looked up all twenty feet.  He smiled and said, “I love it.”  I look back on that as the moment my writing career began.

Now, about that “. . . becoming the past” thing.  Well . . . I know everything I’m saying here he would absolutely dismiss.  That is always how he’d handle my praise, and I am relieved that I gave him all the praise I could while he was still healthy (“I’ve heard all your bullshit before,” he once told me.)  If he were reading this, he would say, “I’m dead.  Gone is forgotten.”  He would say it’s official now: He has become the past. 

But it’s just not so, Bart.  You have become a PERMANENT part of so many people.  Therefore, you are still part of the present which will carry into the future. For instance, take me.  When I have a student point out that sometimes my classes feel more like therapy sessions than school—that’s Bart.  When I try my best to view my students as my equals and tell them how much I learned from THEM—that’s Bart.  I mean, this was a guy that would conclude each semester by asking his students what he could do to make the class better—and he had already been doing it over thirty years. 

Finally, so much of his writing advice has remained “rules” for my own writing.  He once said, “Never have your main character die in the end.  That is lazy writing.  Rather than have the character experience growth in the end, it’s like you’re saying, ‘I didn’t know what else to do with the bastard, so I just killed him.’”

But he also said that there is an exception to his rule, the instance where it becomes acceptable for a lead character to die.  The lead character can die if his death (and his life) has AFFECTED change or growth in the OTHER characters.

Bart would also  tell me not to treat the readers like they’re dumb. 

“I think they’ll get it, Joe,” he would say, softly.

2019 German Book Tour Dates

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Goebel will talk, read, and sign copies of his new book Irgendwann wird es gut at the following:

Solothurn, Switzerland: Saturday, June 1, 18:00…..Solothurner Literaturtage
Berlin:  Mon., June 3, 20:00…..Backfabrik, Clinker Lounge
Hamburg: Tues., June 4, 20:30…..Festival Altonale
Gütersloh: Weds., June 5, 19:30…..Evangelisch Stiftisches Gymnasium
Frankfurt am Main: Thurs., June 6, 19:30…..Literaturhaus Frankfurt am Main
Ravensburg: Fri., June 7, 20:00…..Buchhandlung RavensBuch
Freising: Sat., June 8, 19:00…..Bücher Pustet

New Short Story Published

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You can find a new Goebel short story, “Nicht Mal in Paris,” in the new Diogenes anthology Paris mon amour.  The anthology features short stories set in Paris and includes stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Paulo Coelho, and Patrick Suskind.  The anthology is available in German only.

Joey’s Dr. Lawyer album on YouTube

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Check it out at:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYce5VVtjKL0HB1bLkVC1yx1AV8n871Y8

Update for Fall

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*Join Joey on his official Facebook page at:  https://www.facebook.com/people/Joey-Goebel/700451227

*Join Joey on his official Twitter page at:  https://twitter.com/GoebelJoey

*Paperback version of Ich gegen Osborne will be available in German very soon!  (English version–still to be determined.)

*Joey’s new album is available on I-tunes.  See the following:

“My new album is finally available, digitally only.  My music act—actually more of a recording project—is called Dr. Lawyer.  You can buy it on i-tunes and most other digital music stores.  Mullets fans will be delighted to hear guest appearances by Justin Hope and Jason Sheeley on some tracks, plus a Mullets medley.  See below for the album’s credits.”

 

DR. LAWYER Come Fail With Me Credits

Dr. Lawyer is Joey Goebel.

With special guests:

Jason Sheeley—lead guitar on “Bodies Writhing,” “Geofrey Christ,” “Elvis Always Had that Foreign Look to Him,” “Uncle Sam’s Finger,” “Born on Labor Day,” and “Death Walks in the Waffle House.”  Back-up vocals on “Lonesome Teenager Medley.”

Justin Hope—drums on “Bodies Writhing,” “Geofrey Christ,” “Elvis Always Had…,” “Uncle Sam’s Finger,” “Born on Labor Day,” and “Death Walks in the Waffle House.”  Back-up vocals on “Lonesome Teenager Medley.”

Micah Goebel—back-up vocals on “Bodies Writhing,” “It’s Amazing What People Will Put Themselves Through,” “Uncle Sam’s Finger.”

Barry Sheeley—bass on “Elvis Always Had…”

Thomas Poole—shaky shake percussion on “Eighteen Years of Sin.”

Cover Art—Jr. Bailey

Dr. Laywer logo that ended up not being on the cover—Bradley Glick

Cover Design—Micah Goebel

Recorded by Joey in Henderson, KY and Evansville, IN.

All music and lyrics by Joey. Mastered by Scott Wambach and Jesse Moore.

Dedicated to David Poindexter.

 

Dr. Lawyer album to be released soon

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Joey’s musical act, Dr. Lawyer, will soon have its debut album available digitally.  Check back later this summer.

Short Film based on a scene from TORTURE THE ARTIST

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Check out “Daphne.”  Written and directed by Manuela Gilke.  Produced by Pauliina Tulenheimo.  In English!  A crucial scene featuring Harlan and Daphne from Goebel’s second novel, Torture the Artist.

 

Goebel story in SURREAL SOUTH ’13

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Edited by Josh Woods, SURREAL SOUTH ’13 is an anthology of short fiction that includes one short piece of surrealism by Joey.  The story is called “Contrivances of a Stringbean Marblewood” (or “Surrealist Party”).

To learn more, or to order, go here:  http://www.press53.com/SurrealSouth.html

 

 

Joey to sing at Bagelrama on Aug. 23

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The Fourth Friday reading series will soon continue.  On Aug. 23, Joey will be providing the music.  He will play from 6:00-6:30, and then from approx. 8:30-9:00.  Readers to be announced.  This is a free event held at Bagelrama, in the Citi Center Mall in downtown Henderson, KY.  Also–Goebel will be signing his new novella at this event.

CHEWING THE PAGE: THE MOURNING GOATS INTERVIEWS

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A funny Joey interview appears in this book:

http://www.perfectedgebooks.com/books/chewing-page-mourning-goats-interviews

CHEWING THE PAGE was put together by Phil Jourdan & the Goat and contains interviews with Nick Hornby, Craig Clevenger, Stephen Graham Jones, Michael Kun, Stephen Elliott, Chelsea Cain,  and many more.

Joachim Zimmerman photography

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From Joey:  “Who would have dreamt I’d ever be underneath Wayne Coyne?  Check this out…”

http://joachimzimmermann.com/

“The insanely talented Zimmermann normally focuses on musicians but made an exception for me when I did a reading in Berlin.  Danke, Joachim!

Waiting for Joey: A Reader’s Experience at a Book Signing

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From Joey:  “What follows is a fine piece of writing by a young fellow who brought his family to my reading in Munich.  I figure I better keep his name anonymous, but  his writing touched me and I am glad he gave me permission to share it here. I do not deserve this treatment, but I thank him nonetheless.”

My Old Kenstucky Home

As I’m sitting in the front row and glancing again at the church’s small side-tower opposite the wall of glass, its clock tells me it is ten minutes until the last subway leaves for the last train back home tonight. Finally the last person puts down her book to have it signed and then its only the wife left. As he raises his pen once more, he really looks the way he said the late hour and the trip made him feel. I just hope the jet lag, all the signing and the questions from the audience, all this is going to be worth it for him as much as the long wait was worth it for us, for her.

‘Your book is full of this teenage sexuality, when will you let your son read it?’ – ‘Well, I was raised by quite liberal parents, who let me watch R-rated movies pretty early and so on, and I intend to raise my child in a like manner, so I guess there’s stuff in there you wouldn’t want, I don’t know, a six-year-old to read, but I guess like 13, twelve, eleven, whatever, take your pick.’

So what’s in it for the girl? I guess a lot of A-words, and some of the T-words, the S-word and the F-word probably too. What the heck, they go nicely with all the cursive letters she’s just learned at school. She’s standing in line now with A—, waiting for the signature, for her collection, she had said. Back at home, after she had learned that we were going to A—‘s friend’s reading tonight and she’d have her book signed by him, she had first picked a pencil to get signed for herself. Then, later, during the reading, we could convince her to switch to paper, and she figured her note pad she’d taken for drawing during the long train ride here was perfect; finally, she just took the flier about the reading up there. She’s holding out pretty well for the late hour, but she’s always been like that. By god, if nothing else good came out of these ten years here in Germany, she sure did. And what else is in it for her, a midnight burger and shake at the station and a 45-minute nap on the train; not too bad a trade-off for having to get up for school six hours later. The woman is now spelling out some name to him.

‘So do you still play in your band, are you still touring?’ – ‘No, no, we’re not. It was fun while it lasted, but as time went by, I realized that playing in a teenage punk band called „The Mullets“ wasn’t going to get me where I wanted to be, in the end.’

And what’s in it for the boy, I wonder. I had hoped that at the worst, it would be a night out in the big city meeting one of his mom’s old friends from back home, and at he best it would get him that tiny bit more interested in reading; now, literature isn’t a magic cure-all, but it will open the doors to many things that will otherwise stay closed for ever, and it can be a friend holding your hand at times. I didn’t know it would be all about how high school sucks, he sure has enough teenage drama tat school and at home himself, what with being 13 and his cousin, the older brother he’s never had, a million miles away; and his Granny, whom he left at three years old, sits alone in her smallesttown Southern recliner, surrounded by her pets, and his German dad switches his iPod for the English text book on the train ride here so’s he won’t screw up his English test too bad again the next day, while his biological father is busy playing video games somewhere in America, or maybe making yet another half-sibling. Well, I sure hope C— also heard that part about how J— liked his teachers most about school, just like his protagonist, and how that one teacher said how people are just people everywhere, don’t matter if it’s in America or Germany; he doesn’t know yet that he’ll have to wait with reading the book himself until his mother’s had a chance to read the English version, once it finally comes out. And I sure hope that little man with his little guitar and his passion up there left enough of an impression on him somewhere so he won’t give up his own guitar lessons some time on a teenage whim. And of course he’d already been seeing this celebrity friend of his mom’s in every new face walking through the building, and now he’s really looking forward to meeting a famous person, just like the YouTube celebrities he’s striving after with his video game commentaries. Now J—‘s saying something to the woman about German names.

‘I thank you all for bearing with me and my songs, but I’ve felt lately like there was a void in my life and I realized that I would have to fill it with music, so playing for you here tonight is like therapy for me, thank you.’

Well, I don’t know on how many other authors singing songs after their readings that little church clock tower has so gently frowned upon so far, with its little buttresses and windows, but probably not many and surely none so sincere. I guess that adds another 15 minutes to the 15 he’s already got. So what’s in it for me? ‘Life can turn pineapple upside-down cake’ and ‘after so many pratfalls this is your prattest’ goes that song off the last N— album; I eventually learned that it was about the unhappy life of a silent-movie star, but the wording and content still tie in so neatly with the other songs on the album about the singer’s recent divorce from his wife and daughter, so it’s no wonder it stuck with me like that lately. She still sticks with me, even after that latest pratfall of mine, but I guess my music will be all that’s left for me when good reason finally gives in to dammed-up emotion and that constantly hovering upside-down cake decides to strike the face of the clown that I’ve become. So I guess these people here who so enjoy a little America-bashing before they go home in their denim blue-jeans with their American book and Hunter S. Thompson-buttons, watching American bodies, yes, writhing across their iPhone screens, they may all have their own personal legitimate agenda, but none of them understands you like we do, who sat with you sipping iced tea at the American apple-pie institution that is Cracker Barrel, me listening to A— and you and your friends reveling in what passes for nostalgia among thirty-somethings. So I say, Go J—, give’em hell! and show them who can rock and who can roll and let that voice ring out loud and ring out clear, give us some of that therapy, and tune that guitar on stage as long as it takes you to get that sound just right. Now the woman’s telling him something about the person he just made the dedication out to.

—-

‘And you, do you still live in Kentucky? – ‘Well, yes, as I always call it, I’m still in Kenstucky, I don’t seem to have been able to write my way out of there yet. But, I must say, I’m staying there for the best of reasons, family.’

—-

And that’s the reason why she’s still here, and also why she wants to go back. And that’s what’s in it for her and it’s why we’re here, for a little glimpse of that home abroad, that old life. That’s why she’s been talking about him coming here for months, urging his friend to come too, and why she got the tickets long ago and even dragged the kids out here in the middle of a school night and waited in line for an hour, here in that country she’s grown not to loathe. ‘Home is where the heart is’ we are told, but what about the heart whose home is two places 5000 miles apart, and when the calls and Christmas cards don’t come as often as they used to and time slowly takes its sad and inevitable toll, one by one. And despite all of tonight’s talk about the horrors of life in the heartland she’ll still long for the seat on her mother’s porch but will make do with this here sample of that life she’s exiled herself from. It feels a bit like we’re in some small way part of a private conspiracy of five, and he doesn’t even know yet he’s in it; and even though her trading in the small gifts she brought for a signature and a home-made button pushes her even further into the formal grooves of the pattern dictated by the ritual and constraints of the occasion, those words written into that book and that button she might not even wear will be the only things that she’ll be able to take back to our four rooms in the attic from tonight, the only things that she can keep, that will stay. Well, the woman just said a last good-bye, so here goes: ‘Hi, J—, how ya doing?’ It takes a moment for him torealize who she actually is…

Goebel inducted into Henderson Alumni Hall of Fame

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On April 13, Joey was inducted into the inaugural class of the Henderson, KY Alumni Hall of Fame.  This first class included:

the late A.B. “Happy” Chandler (former KY governor and Major League Baseball commissioner who first allowed integration)

Joan Hoffman (Henderson’s first female mayor, local educator, and unparalleled community activist)

the late Admiral Husband Kimmel (Commander in Chief of the Pacific Fleet during Pearl Harbor, four star admiral)

Herndon Lackey (Broadway star with many credits to his name, including the first Javert in LES MISERABLES)

the late Dr. Darrell Posey (legendary in the field of anthropology and a humanitarian who championed the rights of the indigenous peoples of South America)

Al Reiz (engineer and scientist with amazing resume that includes innovations in solar energy and space propulsion rockets)

New Interview

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http://2013adconversations.com/2013/04/01/joey-goebel/

Click on link to read interview on 2013 AD website.  Thanks go to Austin Duerst.

 

Reading/Singing in Henderson, KY

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April 2013 Fourth Friday Writers’ Coffeehouse

Date: April 26th, 2013 from 6 to 9 PM

Location: Planters Coffeehouse in downtown Henderson, KY at 130 N Main St.

The 2013 April event of the Fourth Friday Writer’s Coffeehouse will take place on Friday, April 26th, 2013 from 6 to 9 PM, at Planters Coffeehouse on 130 N. Main St. in Henderson, KY. Live music is by an acoustic guitar player Tyler Ross. Open Mic is at 6:30. Guest speakers begin at 7 PM. More live music and an artist showcase at 8 PM.

Goebel will read and play around 7:30…

Feature for DAS BUCH ALS MAGAZIN

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Joey wrote a feature on Hollywood bug expert Steven Kutcher for the first issue of DAS BUCH ALS MAGAZINE.   The magazine reprints the entirety of Kafka’s METAMORPHOSIS.  Check it out here:

http://www.dasbuchalsmagazin.de/

bug

 

Dr. Lawyer Shows

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Dr. Lawyer (Joey with an acoustic guitar) will be playing at the following:

Third Tuesday Writers’ Coffeehouse: Tuesday, Feb. 19, approx. 6:30/Owensboro, KY/Intl. Bluegrass Museum, 117 Daviess St. (next to Riverpark Center)…NOTE:  Dr. Lawyer’s stage time will likely be limited to just a few songs…

Heirloom Records:  Saturday, Feb. 23, 2:00pm/2023 W. Franklin St., Evansville, IN….Dr. Lawyer will play 30-45 minutes.

Dr. Lawyer will also be performing at most of the Joey Goebel readings for the ICH GEGEN OSBORNE tour.

Further Details on 2013 Reading Tour

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Monday, March 11, 8:00pm:  MUNICH, Literaturhaus Munchen
Tuesday, March 12, 8:00pm:  ZURICH, Kaufleuten Festsaal
Wednesday, March 13, 9:00pm:  COLOGNE, Klaus-von-Bismarck-Saal
Thursday, March 14, approx. 3:00-4:00pm:  VIENNA, book signing at Thalia Buch & Medien
Thursday, March 14, 7:00pm:  VIENNA, reading at Hauptbucherei am Gurtel
Friday, March 15, 8:00pm:  FREISING, Friedrich Pustet KG, Bucher Pustet
Saturday, March 16:  LEIPZIG, Book Fair Leipzig (details forthcoming)
Sunday, March 17, 8:00pm:  BERLIN, probably Backfabrik
Monday, March 18, 9:00pm:  HAMBURG, Uebel & Gefahrlich

Actor/musician Robert Stadlober will be doing the German parts of readings!

2013 Reading Tour Dates

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March 11        Munich, Literaturhaus
March 12        Zurich, Kaufleuten
March 13        Cologne, Festival Lit.Cologne
March 14        Vienna, Hauptbücherei
March 15        Freising, Bookstore Pustet
March 16        Leipzig, Book Fair
March 17        Berlin, Backfabrik (expected venue)
March 18        Hamburg, Uebel & Gefaehrlich

Specific times forthcoming.