Wandering Along the Path: Right Speech

My husband and I saw the documentary about Toni Morrison yesterday.  It's a terrific film and gives you real insight into who she is and how she thinks.  I was most fortunate in the early eighties to be in an MA program which brought her to our university, and I was chosen to accompany her various places, have dinner with her, and escort her to her lecture on campus.  She seemed so down to earth and easy to talk to and she laughed a lot.  That MA program also brought June Jordan and Paule Marshall to speak and they were similarly inspiring, and later, at a writer's conference in Saratoga Springs, I met and studied with Russell Banks.  I met Angela Davis through my older son.  She was an adviser of his at his university and she came to our party to celebrate his graduation.  She, also, was grounded and kind and relaxed.  All these people were and are good friends of Toni Morrison.  My favorite part of the film is at the end, when Ms. Morrison says the best thing you can say is:  She was loved.  None of the rest of it matters.  It's clear a lot of people around the world love her, and we are passionate about her writing.