song of solomon

just broke my “no t-shirts with words” rule for this. probably too big, but i don’t care. happy birthday to me! via modcloth.

happy birthday mama toni!

At 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 18th of February, 1931, I will take off from Mercy and fly away on my own wings. Please forgive me. I loved you all.

(signed) Robert Smith,

Ins. agent

from The Song of Solomon

there was an updike quote about books having secrets in the paris review. this is why i love toni morrison. her books are full of secrets. the opening of Song of Solomon is amazing even if you don’t know that Robert Smith, Ins. agent, makes his flight on her birthday. but if you do know it, even years later, how satisfying. her books are full of such secrets and all the lovelier for them. there is so much i could say about mama toni, but for now i’ll leave it at happy birthday.

mama toni speaks…

toni morrison’s letter in support of obama is beautiful…in it she states:

In thinking carefully about the strengths of the candidates, I stunned myself when I came to the following conclusion: that in addition to keen intelligence, integrity and a rare authenticity, you exhibit something that has nothing to do with age, experience, race or gender and something I don’t see in other candidates. That something is a creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom. It is too bad if we associate it only with gray hair and old age. Or if we call searing vision naivete. Or if we believe cunning is insight. Or if we settle for finessing cures tailored for each ravaged tree in the forest while ignoring the poisonous landscape that feeds and surrounds it. Wisdom is a gift; you can’t train for it, inherit it, learn it in a class, or earn it in the workplace–that access can foster the acquisition of knowledge, but not wisdom.

read the full letter here.