Dorothy Parker
said there is no Gertrude Stein?
terrible thing to say
Dialogue from the book, Unstrung heroes : my improbable life with four impossible uncles by Franz Lidz, (Signet, New York, NY, 1995).
“There, there, Sidney,” said Shirley.
“Dorothy Parker said there is no there there,” he said.
“I believe it was Gertrude Stein,” she said.
“You mean Dorothy Parker said there is no Gertrude Stein?” I said helpfully.
“That’s a terrible thing for her to say,” said Uncle Danny.
This is here just because when I read it, I laughed out loud.
Being of Dutch heritage, it takes a lot to make me laugh out loud.
I don’t mean that I don’t laugh, it’s that I laugh like I was raised Dutch because I was raised Dutch.
I had a conversation once with a my very Dutch (a Not-Dutch? Not-Much! feller) brother in law in church as we watched a visiting Preacher get more and more frustrated as he told funny illustration after funny illustration and not get one snicker from the congregation.
I told my brother in law we needed to leave a note in the pulpit that if the people are smiling, most other audiences would be laughing.
If people were smiling and nodding, that was equal to continued, loud laughter.
If some folks smiled, nodded and held out one hand and dropped it down to soundlessly slap a knee, well, that was just about over the top, rolling on the floor, laughing.
But we were Dutch.
I wanted a quote from the movie Unstrung Hero’s and I hoped I might find in the book of the same name.
Sorry to say, I could not find the quote I was after but I did come across this bit of writing and it made me laugh.
The words.
The pacing of the conversation.
The subjects.
It was just funny.
That, for any Dutch person, is reason to write down and share the experience.
No Haiku For You 