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One is the Loneliest Number

May 20, 2019 by Jim Potter 10 Comments

http://jimpotterauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/One-is-the-Loneliest-Number.mp3

· Heroes of Hutch ·

Metropolitan Coffee, 1329 E. 17th Ave, Hutchinson. Photo by Blair Starr.

I’m a writer and I’m used to spending a lot of my time alone, writing. I can’t imagine a group of writers collaborating, but I know it’s done and done well.

I love to get an idea and follow where it leads. Often it will involve reading and research; both of which I do mostly by myself.

Jocelyn Woodson, artist, painting in acrylic. Photo by Blair Starr.

The other night I attended a poetry reading event titled, “Here is my poem: A unique evening of poetry, music, & art.” It was both entertaining and inspiring. Wow! Ten poets read their personal pieces after being introduced by musicians playing drums, bass, and keyboard. During the show, two artists painted an image they had each conjured up of a different poem.

Dave McKane, event organizer and poet. Photo by Blair Star.

The organizer of the event, Dave McKane, remarked in his introduction that he wanted to help create something local where the artists could be heroes for one evening. He definitely accomplished that. https://www.facebook.com/events/1268712323276162/

I remember a song written by Harry Nilsson and made famous by the group Three Dog Night. The title was “One,” but it was known by the opening line, “One is the loneliest number that you’ll ever do.”

Troy Tolbert, musician, playing bass guitar. Photo by Blair Starr.

The line reminds me how writing can often be a lonely activity but how it’s also vitally important to at least occasionally surface for fresh air, support, and feedback after being submerged in the work.

They’re many essays that discuss how creative artists, especially writers, are often introverts. But loners, even brilliant loners, can face periods of self-doubt and question their work. That’s why it’s so important to have opportunities to share one’s work in a setting conducive to success, not only criticism.

Window to the World. Josh Lightsey, poet, performing on stage. Photo by Blair Starr.

McKane’s community event was successful for many reasons, especially because it was collaborative. He must have thanked at least twenty people for saying “yes” when they could have said “no” during the plotting process. See participants and contributors at this link.

As the planning proceeded, McKane regularly posted a progress report on social media. He requested help and received it. He found eager poets (and maybe one or two who were reluctant). For a few it would be a new experience, publicly sharing their inner thoughts and written words. It would take courage.

There were rehearsals and direction and improvement. Voices got stronger. Statures grew taller. Strangers became friends.

Soon there was even greater unity in the community.

Referred to as programs, each one is a hand-made published collection of poetry. Book binding completed at The Wool Market & DIY School, 420 N. Main Street, Hutchinson. https://thewoolmarket.net

The night of the event was miraculous as the coffeehouse—Metropolitan Coffee—morphed into an auditorium with a portable stage, spotlights, and sound equipment. Hand-made programs included the printed poems and were recognized as first-class published books, a documentation of something special. 

The place was packed, the performers proud. Outside the pouring rain was cold; inside the welcoming energy was bright, the applause authentic, long and loud.

The lights and cameras focused on the Heroes of Hutch.

By intermission some of the heroes were caught off-guard. People were requesting their autographs as proof that they had been there, that they had participated in the immersive event.

Earl Shook, poet, reading his poem, “My Compass.”

When the heroes said good night, the evening’s impact was only beginning. For every written poem, for every musical beat, for every paint brush stroke, our heroes were rewarded with appreciation for being classy artists.

As the crowd departed, it recognized that creative energy expands. Individuals with their own dreams hoped it would encompass them too.

Many singular, even isolated creatives got a taste of one night on stage, of performing before an appreciative audience that responded to real talent.

The old post-World War I song, “How Ya Gonna Keep’em Down on the Farm (After They’ve Seen Paree?),” is relevant to the artists who performed under the lights at Metropolitan Coffee. http://www.metrocoffeehutch.com/ 

The artists returned home, anxious to create more masterpieces to be revealed to the world.

Surely, each one will be inspired by their jolt of stardom on a rainy night in Hutchinson, Kansas.

Until next time, happy writing and reading!

The Kansas Authors Club http://www.kansasauthors.org is a statewide organization that encourages and supports great writing. It’s divided into seven districts. In Hutchinson, Reno County, (part of District 6) we have monthly meetings at Hutchinson Community College. http://www.hutchcc.edu You’re invited. Questions? Contact Jim Potter, jim@copintheclassroom.com

 

 

 

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Related

Filed Under: Blog posts Tagged With: Annika Smith, Blair Star, Dave McKane, Dennis Shea, Earl Shook, First United Methodist Church Hutchinson, Ginger Zyskowski, Here is My Poem, Heroes of Hutch, Jacelyn Chambers, Jeff Sperry, Jim Potter, Jocelyn Woodson, Josh Lightsey, Kansas Authors Club, Kara Gale, Karina Smith, Marshall Mendez, Metropolitan Coffee, Myra Kitson, One is the Loneliest Number, OT Tolbert, PJ Ford, Spencer Smith, The Wool Market & DIY School, Troy Tolbert

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Alex Potter says

    May 22, 2019 at 8:19 am

    Sounds like a wonderful evening!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      May 22, 2019 at 8:53 am

      Yes, it was!

      Reply
  2. Nancy Julien Kopp says

    May 22, 2019 at 9:07 am

    What a great evening that must have been. Your commentary here brought out the best of each part of the event.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      May 22, 2019 at 9:30 am

      Nancy, thanks for the comment. Yes, exciting venue. Three of the ten poets who performed are Kansas Authors Club members. And I’m pretty sure at least two others will be new members soon. Jim

      Reply
  3. Rock Neelky says

    May 24, 2019 at 11:20 am

    Fascinating essay here. So wish I could have been there! And yes, you hit on the key question for artists: How many hours of solitude does it cost for the communion of art?

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      May 24, 2019 at 11:44 am

      Missed you! If you have any poetry you want to enter in the KAC competition, they are going to have some time set aside for poetry and music during one of the workshop slots at the convention.

      Reply
  4. Veronica Lynn Coons says

    May 26, 2019 at 7:11 am

    Aw! Sounds like an energizing night! Wishing once again. It were possible to be in two places at once!

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      May 26, 2019 at 7:15 am

      We missed you, Veronica!

      Reply
  5. Jan Hurst says

    June 16, 2019 at 5:56 am

    What a colorful, inspiring review of the event, Jim! You made me sorry I missed it.

    Reply
    • Jim Potter says

      June 16, 2019 at 6:28 am

      Thanks, Jan!

      Reply

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What People Are Saying

Denise Low, author of Jackalope (Red Mountain Press)

Jim Potter is a cop, retired, but he brings deep understanding of this job to his novel Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery. This layered novel has literary dimensions as characters explore crisis situations. Congratulations to this fine writer for his debut novel.

Rebecca from Proud Police Wife

Taking Back the Bullet is an emotional, yet captivating novel. Jim Potter does a superb job of intertwining each character and putting their individual identities on display. All law enforcement storylines are a true reflection of Potter’s years as a police officer because they are realistic and relatable. This is a book I highly recommend.

Dennis Perrin, educator

Masterful storytelling, exquisite character development, so real as to HURT and HOPE, a real page turner. Begs for stage, screenwriters, and visual episodic development a.k.a. TV series . . . Thanks Jim Potter for telling it like it is AND providing us visions of how it could be. Well done!

Rebecca Schillaci

As a former law enforcement officer, I found the story very relatable as it details the life of a law enforcement officer and the struggles some face throughout their careers. . . Taking Back the Bullet is a journey of understanding, respect, and forgiveness . . .

Sheryl Remar

I enjoyed the different stories of this book because Tom, James, and Suanna, the three main characters, represent in their own way the different struggles with themselves and society’s idea of what is normal.

John & Cindy Morrill, 20 years Air Force retired, 17 years law enforcement

I enjoyed your book. When I am looking for a new read, I always read the first page, last page and choose a random page somewhere in the middle before I decide to buy it. You had me on all three pages. I also like reading a book where you can relate to the characters and the settings in which they live and work. It makes a story more realistic if you can say, I am familiar with the area; I know where that town is or I have traveled that street. It was easy to relate to the characters. In one way or another, I have met them all somewhere in my journeys.

Judy Hawk

. . . I was impressed with the Native American information as well as the depth of character development . . . .

Wynona Winn, PhD, retired school superintendent

Three main characters walk different paths but with the same destination – each coping with his or her self-discovery, self-identity, and self-realization. Much like their earlier counterparts – Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield – their journeys are often joyous, often tedious and often tragic.

Diana Dester

Good story line, building the characters along the way. Great job!

Deb Theis, LSCSW, clinical therapist/hypnotherapist

Jim Potter has done it again! After his book, Cop in the Classroom: Lessons I’ve Learned, Tales I’ve Told, Jim has written another great work. In Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, Jim Potter takes us on an insightful journey into the lives and relationships of numerous characters. Jim is such a talented storyteller that the reader quickly becomes immersed and has a ‘bonding experience’ with each of the characters, feeling their joy, fear, passion and pain. Jim’s novel speaks to the empowerment of persistence with the characters as they work through their trials. As a therapist, I appreciated the heartfelt struggles from each of the characters and their diversity. I also found value in the novel’s understanding of society’s misunderstanding of both mental health and other conditions in which people struggle. The novel contains rich exposure to various realities that many of us do not know about . . . but should. When I finished this captivating novel, I was wanting to read the sequel! It was an honor and a wonderful, mesmerizing experience reading this book. Congratulations, Jim!

Jane Holzrichter

I finished it last night around midnight. What a great piece of work. It kept me intrigued all the way to the end.

Sean McArdle, Winchester, England

Retired police officer Potter’s novel centres on very disparate characters and through the tried and tested means of gradually introducing each one, builds a sense of anticipation about what is going to happen to them. This often used methodology is not easy to do well but is superbly handled by Potter who knows how to give enough detail to bring the characters to life, yet not too much so as to slow down the pace of the developing story. A climactic event affects the main characters and it is at this point Potter’s deep knowledge of people and police procedures really hits home; page by page we read how a seemingly simple, though terrible occurrence, can have huge consequences. To Potter’s credit the story does not have a completely conclusive or simplistic ending. Instead it leaves the reader thinking about how the events of a single minute can affect lives forever. I would whole heartedly recommend this book not as a crime novel or even as a novel about crime but as a beautiful and positive affirmation about what it is to be human and how ultimately it is relationships which matter more than events.

Morgan Penner

Taking Back the Bullet is a novel that provides the reader with a window into the world of law enforcement. As the novel unfolds, the reader is able to see how split-second decisions alter the lives of the main characters in the story. Taking Back the Bullet also explores how humanity is impacted by mental illness. One of my favorite quotes from Taking Back the Bullet is “We’re all just a critical moment from being disabled or mentally ill, and we don’t want to think about it.” The novel also provides the reader an opportunity to gain a better understanding of how mental illness impacts the individuals, their family, friends, and society. Taking Back the Bullet is a story of forgiveness and overcoming life’s struggles and tragedies.

Steve Becker

I’m impressed. It was an excellent read. . . . I hope you continue with more projects in the future.

Larry Kruckman, anthropologist

Jim Potter displays ethnographic skills in Taking Back the Bullet: Trajectories of Self-Discovery, creating vivid scenes and fascinating characters. The Greeks had a word for subcultures and people’s behavior: ‘ethos,’ or ‘ways of being.’ In colorful, sometimes marvelous detail, this novel captures various people and settings . . . the ethos of rural Kansas: a jail, art fair, powwow, rehab center, courtroom, albinos, and even someone in the throes of postpartum depression. So detailed are the descriptions that they must be drawn from the author’s personal experience. Besides the artfully created characters such as the struggling jailer and husband Tom Jennings, local artist Jesse Thomas, and Native American Joe Morningcloud, there is a tight story line that grabs your attention and won’t let go. Human tensions, love, conflict, joys and sorrows are all there. Magically, all the many pieces come together in a final crescendo, giving hope that even when we find ourselves in big trouble we can survive. This is a novel I highly recommend!

Larry Kruckman
Anthropologist
Karleen Wilson-Moon

Terrific story relevant to today’s social issues . . . well written . . . likable characters . . . insightful perspective from an insider in law enforcement.

Karleen Wilson-Moon

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