Perhaps another read through my minor blah blah here is in order?

Best in solidarity, Marcelle

One of those records –though not my favorite of Fogerty’s early work by any means– was “Fortunate Son.” It played a part…as all socially-conscious art does…in contributing to something very positive…as various forces culminated in bringing U.S. troops home from Vietnam.

The songs I wrote at the time did not.

On his new DVD he’s got a line which includes the words “fortunate son, ” but whether one likes it or not…the contribution with that TODAY will not inject the same kind of goosebumps that the earlier creation indubitably did.

Blessings in solidarity,
Marcelle
P.S. Thanks to RL (?) for reminding me to break up my blah blah into digestible paragraphs here. And sorry, Sunil, if I commited an indiscretion respecting the comment about the original title; the not airing in public (first) promise. Thought it didn’t apply this go-round.

Open Letter to Julie Fogerty and Others on REVIVAL in “America”: A Wakeup Call

That’s instructive ’cause it underscores how the article was conceived; in great part it was designed to generate solidarity by having someone help me contact Julie…or by Julie noticing the piece…on the way to following through with lots of dreams about public action thereafter.

I know the editors don’t have the heartbeats to spare, but all discriminate writers long to have their chosen elements restored…even after the closing of doors. If heartbeats permit…that could be my Xmas gift.

Regarding Lloyd’s concerns, take a look, if you like, at how I responded to him in an email today:

Thanks for this, Lloyd. Truly. A second-read, as per your rundown here, may be in order. For…truth is…the article does NOT really have anything whatsoever to do with either Lennon or Fogerty. Just like a given author’s words don’t necessarily work “compatibly” with their lives –public or otherwise– my lines merely use the lyrics as a point of departure for larger points than their lives or work (in gen’l) for that matter. Just a pt. of departure. Btw, before I forget, I do think that writing such as yours here sd. be placed in the commentary section for one and all to go blah blah over. I honestly don’t “get” the point you’re trying to make about my bouncing off of the Cendrars legacy. Please explain…in a sentence? Of course, not a soul knows WHY the Vietnam thing “ended,” and I only brought up Chomsky to underscore that the contributors in the commentary wd do well to back up from their too-sure-of-themselves takes on the issue. All this said, I’d love a condensed take on the positive aspects of Dream Party…for you. As far as time in “the wilderness,” that’s not quite on target. For one, aside from seeds sown…which is all anyone can hope for…in spite of all the PR that is placed over in-the-center-of-things activity…too many wonderful contributions in history have been made out of the limelight…only appreciated after one’s life…to categorize quite so cavalierly. Blessings pure and simple, Marcelle

There’s an obscure quotation by some physicist lodged forever in my mind, along the lines of: “The first time I read this book on thermodynamics, I understood it perfectly; then something started nagging, and I read it a second time. Well, I couldn’t understand it at all. Then I read the book a third time, and I decided to devote my life to the field.” Except for the physicist’s lifelong devotion, and the fact I’ve read “The Dream Party: Soulful Bedfellows Anyone?” only one time, the quotation describes my reaction to your piece.

I never know how long I’ll be able to concentrate these days, so I’ll make ONE real big point, not even about characters presently IN The Dream Party, but you’ll get my drift I’m sure: to speak of John Lennon and John Fogerty in anything like a “we can get something done because these guys are similar” context is, simply, surreal. Briefly, like you like it: John Lennon started what happened with performance arts and white America in the 1960’s. John Fogerty was just the oldest brother with a very pedestrian rock band, Creedence Clearwater,…,

If you don’t understand what’s different about that, I’m not at all surprised you’ve been trying to organize in the wilderness for decades. Because you can’t just have the name of an obscure Swiss poet, endless Right-On, great intelligence and writing ability, a focus on when America DID end a war — and try to parlay them into significance by concentrating on (successful surviving performers from the 1960′s).

By the bye, No One (including Chomsky and Ellsburg) knows why the Vietnam War ended. I’m of the school that holds that public opinion regarding foreign affairs, in America, had nothing to do with it. And I offer that as a freebie, supplemental critique. No One in America was paying any attention to Lennon much less Fogerty when the Articles of Impeachment were handed out.
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Respectfully in Struggle,
Lloyd

Do you have some uncontrollable need to dominate the comments section of most DV articles with brief one-liners and ramblings that, more often than not, have nothing to do with the original article?

– Sunil

I’m not the editor that posted this article, but I would hazard to guess that the omission of the opening paragraph/dedication was either an honest mistake or was left out because, given a feature of Word Press that we have no real control over, the first paragraph of an article is what appears on the home page as the article teaser. Josh or Kim may have felt that having the dedication as a teaser may not have drawn as many readers to your article than the following paragraph (your opening comment). I personally feel the article is stronger starting w the latter, but have nevertheless posted the dedication in the article as you originally desired. You’ll now notice that the dedication is now the teaser on the front page. With regards to the omitted bio . . . because Word Press is a CSS/template based website, the bio field in an author’s article is the same for every article by that author. If we update your bio, then all your earlier articles will have the new bio. I.e. all your previous articles will reference Fogerty in the bio, which clearly you wouldn’t want. In other words we can’t customize the bio field with every new article. It’s a shortcoming of the system I don’t particularly care for, but that’s the way it is. What I’ve done is posted the omitted bio as a sort of postscript (delineated by the *) after the article.

Finally, I never received any e-mail, nor do I believe Kim or Josh did, about the omission issues. I only learned about it from your comments here. If a problem like this arises, try writing us about it first rather than air it publicly.

Cheers,

– Sunil

At the top:

Open Letter to Julie Fogerty and Others on REVIVAL in “America”: A Wakeup Call
by Marcelle Cendrars

“Profound thanks to Julie Fogerty for her constant love, inspiration, and support.”
– John Fogerty showing his wife/adviser deep appreciation for help with his latest release…and more.

At the bottom:

Marcelle Cendrars, Algerian-American journalist, trusts that anyone in a position to contact Julie Fogerty on her behalf will do so. The author would like to arrange a unique interview with John Fogerty in which a new paradigm for action could be proposed, and discussed (and, then, widely disseminated). She can be reached at bcendra[at]YAHOO{dot} com.

Like I’ve said many times, I think that activists need something other than the usual totally straight, traditionally direct communication…which is concerned exclusively with content. I believe that a more poetic form in communication may be what’s needed in some cases to open up fresh possibilities in thought. I deal with that realm, in part, in my titles and bios as a rule. But the setup at DVoice, apparently, doesn’t allow for that.

If a particular form of lyrical communication is confusing….it may be worth it for the reader to “stretch” a bit…so that some suggestive seeds can take root. Regardless, with hardly any “work”…I do believe the reader can see how I was trying –as I usually do– to get reader “activists” to act…and not just read. I was trying to create solidarity of a sort with this piece, bringing in Julie Fogerty et. al. into the mix.

What a dreamer I can be. — Marcelle