Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 15, 2000)
15,2000 r Speaking out for inclusion Portland w rite r’s words would be banished under Measure 9 by O r ia n a G r e e n t was certainly gratifying when Rodger Lar sons coming-of-age novel What I Know Now was added to Portland Public Schools’ sexual diversity reading list. His 1997 book tells the story of 14-year-old Dave and his struggles with sexual identity. It has been well-reviewed, has been nominated for big awards and has inspired heartfelt fan mail. One O hio teen wrote Larson that it was the best book he’d ever read. “I love that kid,” Lar son enthuses over a recent lunch. ‘‘He was just coming o u t...it makes me feel awfully good that this might have helped him." But if Measure 9 passes, Larson’s book and hundreds like it would be removed from O re gon public school libraries. “My voice would be banned,” he says, clearly worried about a return to the ignorant era of his own upbringing. Larson, 57, grew up on a large wheat and barley ranch in the central valley of California, which is the locale for What I Know Now. In the Hxik, which is set in 1957, Dave’s isolation mirrors Larson’s own at the time. And like his character, Larson had a period of wondering about his sexuality during his teen years. “But I convinced myself I was straight,” he says, recalling how afraid he was even to look up homosexuality in the card cat alog, scared someone might see him. So how autobiographical is it? “It has a real emotional truth, and that truth is my experi ence,” Larson confides. “But the events are much larger than anything that happened to me.” Larson grew up and spent four years in the Air Force during the height of the Cold War at a radar center stationed in Corvallis. “I learned to love Oregon— I even love the rain,” he claims. “As a writer I work well with the internal rumi nating it inspires.” Larson eventually settled in Portland, where he has lived for 30 years now, “so it’s really home.” During his early years in the Rose City, he worked as a landscape planner for the Parks Department, experience that also found its way into his book. “The central metaphor of the book is building a garden, so 1 used my own knowledge,” he explains. And during those same 11 years Lar son was also married, still trying to con Rodger Larson and his buddy, Malouf vince himself he was straight. “When I began to divorce and come out, I didn’t want Before long, he realized he had bigger aspi to do the landscaping work anymore.” rations and began studying with Portland nov W hat followed was a granddaddy of a elist Tom Spanbauer as part of his critique midlife crisis. Larson coped by going back to group. “I credit him with a lot of my growth as college and eventually earning a master’s a writer," Larson reveals. “I could tell there was degree in creative writing. a step I needed to make between amateur and He also met and fell in love with his part professional.. .my words needed to trigger emo ner, Andy Simon. They registered as domestic tions for the reader.. .and he helped me get to partners during the “1,000 Years of Commit the poetry of language.” ment” ceremony Sept. 9. “We’ll add our 20 After a stint teaching at Metropolitan years,” Larson says proudly. Learning Center, Larson now leads his own cri But writing in his journals is what really tique groups for fiction writers in his home. “I kept him sane. “It helped me process what was tell my students to aim high.. .a couple of them going on,” he recalls. are close to getting published,” he says. And Larson is taking his own advice. He just finished his second novel, Raindog, and has high hopes for its publication. Although his first book was also written for an adult audience, because of the vicissi tudes of publishing, it ended up classified as a book for high schoolers. Larson is determined that won’t happen with his latest effort. “Raindog is about a very caring, tender and meaningful relationship that includes graphic and passionate sex," he explains. It’s also about a 16-year-old boy and a man twice his age, who is also mute. Why mute? “It’s a metaphor for being silenced as a gay person,” he says. And does he foresee his sexuality being part of all his books? “I think being gay is such a big part of who I am that it’ll always be there in some way.” So how did Larson get his big break? The stories you’ve heard about how difficult it is to get a book published are true. Larson now has a highly regarded New York agent, but lest anyone think it was easy, consider he sent out 46 query packages during a six- month period. Number 47 did the trick. Now that he’s found his true calling, he’s enjoying all the attendant duties, even giving readings. “Writing is very independent and lonely, and you have this relationship with this other person you never m eet...and readings are a chance to get feedback from readers,” he explains j r n R odger L arson will read from What I Know Now and his new book, Raindog, during the next meeting of the Literary Triangle 7 p.m. Sept. 22 at Barnes & Noble Lloyd Center, 1231 N .E . Broadway. Call (503) 3 3 /-/3 0 7 for more information. So he p u l l e d out m y “J i m Beam » a n d to h i s s u r p r i s e a s Wh S e v e r y bit ’ h t r d as h i s C a n a d i a n Club ” “ no Guide courtesy of ju s tn r n Call (503) 236-1253 to advertise. a U ull Lottery T M • A/C © 11 «*••** 25 I 2 “ NE” Broadway PDX 287-4210 2913 SE Stark (503) 230-7980 — ..[Wflpwj...f J 1 J!.I..g.fi.| il Ï i t t i I l f 7$ m { j i « W y t 0 mm . j.. ... .......................... I ....».............j .... ||.... Monday-Thursday Lunch 11 am -2pm / Dinner 5:30-9:30pm Friday and Saturday Lunch 11 am-2 pm / Dinner 5:30-10 pm Sunday Brunch 9:30 am -l:30pm / Dinner 5:30-9:30pm Lounge open everyday 11 am to 2 am us online at www.starkys.com mm IjK. / tm / WESTSIDE PORTLAND A ^ £ 7- 77/ ' ** 5 $* HI H i BBS ■UHM WKÊÊtÊÜ Boxxes/Brig— 1035 SW Stark St.................. 1 Brandy’s— 3728 NE Sandy Blvd....................16 CC Slaughters— 219 NW Davis St...................5 Chopsticks Express— 2651 E. Burnside St. 13 Club Portland— 303 SW 12th Ave.................11 Darcelle XV— 208 NW Third Ave....................5 Dirty Duck Tavern— 439 NW Third Ave.......... 6 Eagle PDX— 1300 W Burnside St....................7 The Edge— 333 SW Park Ave. .....................10 Egyptian Club— 3701 SE Division St.............. 8 Embers Avenue— 110 NW Broadway Estrellas— 2845 SE Stark St.............................4 Fox and Hounds— 217 NW Second Ave. . .14 Frontline— 1125 SW Washington St.............. 3 Hobo’s— 120 NW Third Ave.............................. 5 JOQ’s— 2512 NE Broadway.......................... 12 Kokopeli’s Choice— 2845 SE Stark St............4 Neighbors— 1417 Villard St................... Eugene North Bank Tavern— 106 W Sixth St................................ Vancouver Panorama— 341 SW 10th Ave......................... 1 Scandals Tavern— 1038 SW Stark St.............1 Shanghai Steakery— 16 NW Broadway___ 9 Silverado— 1217 SW Stark St........................11 Starfcy’s— 2913 SE Stark St.............................. 4 300 Club— 300 Liberty St. SE .............. Salem 3 Friends Coffeehouse— 201 SE 12th Ave. .2 Three Sisters Tavern— 1125 SW Stark St. .11 Touchstone Coffee H o u s e - 7631 NE Glisan St......................................... 15 i3 5
