Cinematic film, the art form that came into its own in the 20th Century, is not only familiar to all of us, but is likely the form that lodges most clearly in memory. Like music, and the music employed in a film, scenes come back, often carrying emotion as well as remembrance.
One such film is Harold and Maude, the 1971 production that brought Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon to what are possibly their most memorable roles, and the film that locked so many Cat Stevens songs in mind. A cockeyed love story that stretches the definition of a May/December romance, it reveals the fact that love can indeed be blind to matters of age or appearance.
This book takes us back half a century to when this one-of-a-kind film was released, a time with its own kind of turmoil, but a time as well of a different kind of innocence, one worth exploring again. Fifty years, traditionally a golden anniversary, is surely an appropriate time to celebrate.
After moving around quite a lot, I settled on Canada's West Coast in 1970. While studying at university (more than one), I had a few poems published, but then abandoned writing for just about 20 years. I'm glad I came back, and can't imagine not writing ever again (they'll have to pry the pen out of my hand at the end, I am sure). My books have mostly been collections of poetry, though a novella, Shrinking Violets snuck its way onto the list in 2011. Now, ten years later, my newest book, Glorious Birds is here. It isn't poetry or even fiction, but personal musings on one of my all-time favourite films, Harold and Maude. Yes, I did a bunch of research, so I've included plenty of info about the screenwriter, the director, some of the actors, and the music. Mostly, it's a love song to, as Mary (in There's Something About Mary) calls it, "the greatest love story ever!"