girlfiend

Grace Paley is dead. The death of public figures doesn’t ordinarily have much of an effect on me since they’re public figures, not people I know or care about, but Paley is different. She spoke at my college in 1996 or 1997 and she had a profound effect on me. She stood at the podium in the Great Room in our Student Center and read short stories and essays for close to two hours. I’d read some of her stories before, but that night I learned about her life. Born in the Bronx in the 20s to Jewish parents she spoke English and Yiddish at home. As an adult she married and had children and found it wasn’t enough so she became a writer and protester. Her stories are wry and sardonic and at times they are very, very funny. Paley was an inspiration to me at a time in my life when I was too jaded to find much inspirational.

After the reading I waited around. I wanted to speak to her and tell her how much I loved her work. It was late and I was embarrassed and didn’t know what to say but she shook my hand and spoke to me for a few minutes anyway. I remember looking down at her- she was a good two inches shorter than me- and being acutely aware of just how much I’d like to be like her some day.
The Telegraph’s obituary is the best I’ve read so far.

Maud Newton writes about meeting her when she was in college and links to Paley interviews and audio.