My Film-Addict connections presented me with a chance to interview author Joyce Maynard a couple of weeks ago and I jumped at the chance.   Her book, Labor Day, is being made into a film and without giving away too much, I can recommend the film.  Maynard is a celebrated author, known to some folks for her long list of novels and for her memoir chronicling her time with J.D. Salinger decades ago.   In person, she is quite exquisite and wonderful.  A free speaker and a proud woman who can bake a fine peach pie, write a decent love story and holds a conversation well.  I posted this film-addict piece last week and wanted to share it here with my Dose subscribers and readers.    This wasn’t my normal interview.  I brought the kid with me and Joyce got a kick out of it.   The conversation last 30 minutes and touched on a lot of things.

“If you choose to be a cynic, there are lots of things you can pick at (with Labor Day). I choose to go on this journey. I’m a romantic.”- Joyce Maynard

I’d like to say I am built out of equal parts in my beliefs and perspectives.  There are areas of life where I maintain a cynical outlook on the world and others where I have more emotional views.  However, when it comes to love and matters of the heart, I am 100 percent old school romance.   I am not alone in that area.  Joyce Maynard, celebrated author of Labor Day, spares nothing with her words and wears her heart on her sleeve when she writes her novels.

Labor Day was adapted for the screen and directed by Jason Reitman, and on a press tour stop, I had a chance to sit down and talk to Maynard.   The story is about a mother and son who take in a mysterious man who has just escaped from prison.  What starts out as a hostage situation takes a very unpredictable turn and springs many surprises on the reader.  The same effect happened with my interview assignment.  What started out as an interview assignment quickly turned into a passionate comfortable conversation about life, choices and of course, the book’s story and characters.

“This is not a cynical movie.  It’s an unconventional love story.  Do we really want to see how life goes?  I like to imagine the way it would go.  It’s not perfect.  I wasn’t going to make some Nicholas Sparks happily after fairy tale.  This is a believable love story for mature people.”

The interview was on Thursday in downtown St. Louis, a day after the evening screening I took in at The Tivoli.   Maynard held a Q & A after that event, and I was the lucky one who was sitting behind her at the screening.   When the lights went up and before she could make it way to the front of the theater, I had the chance to introduce myself and ask her what she thought of the film.   This is where a lot of celebs would brush you off and proceed on.  Maynard instead leaned in and poignantly said, “It’s such a beautiful film”.  Once you get a chance to talk to this lovely woman, you see that she doesn’t waste any encounter in life and takes her fans as seriously as they take her stories.  In the entertainment business, it’s a two way street and fortunately for this writer, Maynard lives on it.

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