On the Nature of Human Romantic Interaction: Stories.
. . . Whether people noticed his minor is another matter. He says that after he had defended his thesis on rough-terrain mobile robots and had published several short stories, an engineering professor told him that he was surprised to read in a local magazine that Iagnemma wrote fiction. "I said, 'Well, you know that, because that was my minor, and you were on my thesis committee.' And he said, 'Oh, I thought you were studying friction.'"
Interesting finding this on your blog. Karl Iagnemma was the first interview I did for the Rose & Thorn Iangemma
ReplyDeleteThere I was suddenly thrust into the job of finding authors to interview, with no clue where or how to start. I'd ordered On the Nature after reading the review in the Inquirer, and decided to take a wild chance and contact Karl through his website. Was I bowled over when he said,yes. He's a great guy.
Oh, that's good news to my ears, Nannette (because I really liked the gentle way he presents himself to the point I thought someone else might enjoy this, too).
ReplyDeleteI'm reading your piece right now and am stunned to think this was your first. Obviously, a natural; and, really, what a kind soul he seems to be. When he speaks of humility, he does so with an irrefutable authenticity. No poseurism about him, a refreshing aspect of his approach to (or reverence for) language and creativity.
His description of the re/writing process itself, on your 'site, rings so true; but, when he discusses that "boulder," it will make anyone who's attempted a long work smile agreeably and nod energetically.
Decent, I guess; he seems truly "decent" to me in all senses of that adjective. (Or, IOW, not a prima diva.)