The 74-year-old discusses his latest book, The Noise, plus his relationships with Bill Clinton, Stephen King, Dolly Parton, and the works of James Joyce.
"Maria tossed her hair out of her face and sat up with a jerk. She leaned forward, distorting her image on the screen. Her lips became pale, and her left eye was suddenly sanguine, swollen."
"Stomping-boot-by-stomping-boot, Niyi cracked down the sidewalk. At the pink house with blue trim, he bent forward to smell the pine tree smell, as his baba had taught him. But it was his mama who’d told him to 'notice everything, especially the air.'"
With the release of her first book, Crying in H Mart, and third album, Jubilee, the Eugene native is exorcising her grief and looking for something grander.
‘I’m just so sad. I think she becomes a little piece of you, and all of a sudden that little piece is gone, yet carries on, and I'm so grateful for what she's contributed. She brought a lot of joy to our family.’
