I've been thinking a lot about St. Valentine. And only partly because I have an NPR deadline approaching. When I meet people who have read or heard my stuff, it is very common to hear "where do you get your ideas?"
The answer is, one thing leads to another. Sometimes a thing just catches your writer eye and you walk around thinking about it. At least I do.
Valentine was interesting to me for a number of reasons. One of them is that he was an outlaw to the Romans. An insurgent. We hear the term 'insurgent' used a good deal now, but hard to imagine it in the framework of Roman Society and the context of Christianity as "underground."
So my new St. Valentine's Day piece comes from that perspective. Painting this man we now know as a priest and martyr, as a kind of criminal. Hence, the "Gangster of Love."
Hearts and Flowers
The other thing about St. Valentine is that he died very badly, beaten nearly to death and then beheaded. The contrast between his brutal death and the pink hearts for which he has become known is a head-spinner.
Is there humour in that contrast? We'll see. As always, all comments are welcome. Just click on the link below to hear the three-minute St. Valentine broadcast.
http://www.prx.org/pieces/90320-st-valentine-gangster-of-love
The answer is, one thing leads to another. Sometimes a thing just catches your writer eye and you walk around thinking about it. At least I do.
Valentine was interesting to me for a number of reasons. One of them is that he was an outlaw to the Romans. An insurgent. We hear the term 'insurgent' used a good deal now, but hard to imagine it in the framework of Roman Society and the context of Christianity as "underground."
So my new St. Valentine's Day piece comes from that perspective. Painting this man we now know as a priest and martyr, as a kind of criminal. Hence, the "Gangster of Love."
Hearts and Flowers
The other thing about St. Valentine is that he died very badly, beaten nearly to death and then beheaded. The contrast between his brutal death and the pink hearts for which he has become known is a head-spinner.
Is there humour in that contrast? We'll see. As always, all comments are welcome. Just click on the link below to hear the three-minute St. Valentine broadcast.
http://www.prx.org/pieces/90320-st-valentine-gangster-of-love
No comments:
Post a Comment