Fill the House with Books
The Southeast Review's Assistant Creative Nonfiction
Editor, Samantha Levy, asks Emily Russo, daughter of Richard
Russo, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, what it was like growing
up in a literary household.
SER: When did you realize that
your father was a writer? Do you remember a specific
moment or a slow awakening?
Russo: While I'm sure I always "knew,"
I remember picking up one of his books, Nobody's Fool,
when I was 13. It was the first time I had attempted
to read something of his. I became entirely immersed
in the story. Then it hit me. My father wrote
this! The revelation continued to occur every seventy-five
pages or so. It still happens to this day - every time
I read his work.
SER: When did you realize he was
a writer who people knew -- for better or for worse?
Do you remember fans or toadies? Or news of dad being
reviewed in this paper or that magazine?
Russo: Thankfully, my father has always had
a strong handfull (or several handfulls) of loyal readers
who have been dedicated to his work from the beginning.
You can't ask for more than that. And, the more he wrote,
the more readers came to know his work. It
was/is a blessing.
BUT, at the same time, I can't deny that the movie
business didn't have an impact on our lives when it came to
having "fans" or "toadies." When
Nobody's Fool was turned into a movie, there were
more phone calls, more requests, more interviews. For
my sister Kate and I, we began to see subtle changes in how
we were treated by our peers. People who weren't friends
of ours before started to be a little more attentive, a few
current good friends became more timid around us, and there
were some peers who shunned us for being "too rich."
SER: When did you first read something
of his?
Russo: When I was 13. I need to
go back and reread those earlier novels. I can't
even begin to imagine what my early teenage brain missed in
those pages.
SER: Did you feel like your English
teachers expected more of you?
Russo: No, not at all. I almost wished
they had. They were far too lenient. It wasn't
until I was a freshman in college that I felt my writing was
questioned and pushed, and most of my professors (especially
those outside the English department) had no idea I was Richard
Russo's daughter.
SER: Did it seem like
the family business?
Russo: Only in a few small ways. I'm
STILL asked when my first book is coming out (the answer: never)
by those who don't know me, and growing up in a literary household certainly had
some impact on my personality, likes and dislikes. For
example, neither of my parents were very interested in the
sciences or in computers. It rubbed off - even though
I'm sure it was unintentional. My sister and I were
in high school before we had a "kids" computer and
I was 18 before I even touched e-mail. Electronics and
Russos often don't blend well. We tend to steer clear
of anything we have to plug in/turn on. I'm only half-joking,
here. We're a paper family. We love all things
paper. Newspaper, books, magazines, leaflets, cookbooks,
notebooks, stationery. Everything else (sports, science, mathematics)
just didn't interest me as much.
But, both of my parents have always encouraged us to do what makes us happy. I've never been pressured to do or be this or that. If I decide I want to be a professional fly-fisherman, so be it.
SER: How did you find out your father
had won the pultizer? How did he react? How did
your family?
Russo: I actually found out from my college
roommate, Allison, when we were seniors. I had been
anticipating the announcement for weeks, but the whole family
thought that Jonathan Franzen's novel, The Corrections,
was a shoo-in. We were hoping for a nomination, at best.
But, since Empire Falls wasn't on the short-list
for the National Book Award, we felt a Pulitzer nomination
was rather unlikely.
I'd had a rough week of course work that particular week,
so I'd managed to forget about the date of announcement.
Allison and I had just come home from class when I heard her
scream. Naturally, I ran to see if she'd fallen, or
if there was an intruder, but I see she's checking our answering
machine. She's grinning wildly and refuses to tell me
what she's listening to. It finally dawns on me what
day is it. I gasp, "He was nominated!"
Her response: "No, Em. He won!"
As for my father's reaction, he was quited humbed. And
in awe. I think he's still in awe.
I, on the other hand, ran to tell everyone I knew. :)
SER: How does your father handle the
object himself?
Russo: It's in his office. No one but
him sees it.
SER: If you had a mental snapshot of
your father, as a writer, from your younger years, what would
it be?
Russo: My dad writing in a diner. While
he getting his MFA in Creative Writing at the University of
Arizona, his only time to write between teaching classes (and
taking care of me in diapers) was to write in the university
cafeteria while on breaks. He became so used to the
surrounding noise and bustle that to this day, he does most
of his writing in long-hand at a cafe where he is surrounded
by the goings-on of the world. My earliest memory is
him at The Open Hearth Diner in Waterville, Maine. He
knew every waitress, and they knew him.
SER: Do you have any advice to kids
whose parents are writers? Or to parents who are writers
raising kids?
Russo: That's a tough question to answer.
I'm not sure if my advice would differ should either of my
parents have had a different profession.
What I can say is this:
My parents are my best friends and there is one thing they
did with us that I will be sure to do with my children when
the time comes.
As cliche as it sounds today (damn you commercials), we always,
ALWAYS, sat down to have dinner together. No matter
what was going on in our lives, drama rehearsal, deadlines,
tennis practice, teaching classes, late evenings in the office,
we made sure that at least 5 nights a week we sat down and
had dinner together. We talked, complained, sometimes
yelled, but we were always together. I don't think I
would be the person I am today without that. They were/are
attentive and caring parents. I hope I can emulate that.
I wish more families I knew were like that. Family
comes first for me. Period.
Second, make sure your kids see you read. Fill the house
with books. Make sure it's bursting at the seams.
Advice to kids whose parents are writers: Give them
a hug. They probably need it.
