review of the LSGY reading last friday

Published by bryan | Filed under reviews

Many thanks to donmillerfans.net reader Olivia, who was kind enough to share her thoughts on what went down last Friday night at Sip & Kranz. Her thoughts follow in bold:

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I’d be hard-pressed to find a better way to spend a Friday evening then the one I had last week. It just isn’t so often you come across the perfect combination of socializing and social awareness. In support of the Belmont Foundation, an organization that seeks to address the crisis of fatherlessness by providing long term mentors and family support services for single-parent families, we got to enjoy fine wine, scrumptious appetizers, live music performed by local artist Adam Smouse, a silent art-auction, and the opportunity to hear Don Miller share an excerpt from his latest project,” Let the Story Guide You.”

You would expect the usual crowd of young 20 and 30 something year-olds to appear at Don Miller’s reading. You know, the Pearl district sophisticates holding slender wine glass stems, nibbling on their pita triangle squares and hummus dip. But last Friday at Sip and Kranz, a modern, downtown hip coffee bar – all pale wood, sharp angles and tiny cool light fixtures, was a diverse gathering of Portland folk. From those wearing business attire to those in flip-flops and jeans, to elderly grandparents to quite a few families with enthusiastic two and three year-olds joyfully playing on the IKEA-inspired chairs towards the back of the coffee bar. Packed to the max with around 90 or so people there was genuine warmth in the room. And it wasn’t just due to its crowdedness but with the mutual appreciation for both the work of the Belmont Foundation and Don Miller. When I first arrived, I noticed people waiting for their beverages began to form a circle and introduce themselves to complete strangers and share common interests and enthusiasm.

The evening began with an introduction the work of the Belmont Foundation and was followed by a short reading. It was a letter of an apology written by a dad who hadn’t been there for his son growing up. The sadness and sensation of loss in the letter was powerful enough to quiet the large crowd. I was standing right near the coffee grinder and I could tell even the coffee grinder kid with jet black hair was striving to be more quiet.

Next, Don Miller got up to share about the beginnings of the Belmont Foundation and “To Own a Dragon.”

He said, “As a writer you can tend to hole yourself away in a cavern somewhere. Wearing just your boxer shorts you can deliver advice without ever having to apply it to yourself. So I started the Belmont Foundation.”

Continuing with tongue-in-cheek humor, Don spoke briefly on his experience with the film scriptwriters who are working on his memoirs. They kept on re-writing, “to make my life more exciting…so pretty much the whole thing is fiction,” Miller said.

While Don apologized that his excerpt was still a rough draft - his Friday night’s reading was no exception to his signature ability to combine humor, poignant reflections, and insightful observations on life and relationships. His topic that evening was “Memorable Scenes.” Examples from the movie “Stranger than Fiction” and the documentary “Darius goes West” were given as well as more personal stories about a father-daughter relationship, conflict with neighbors, and a Fourth of July party.

What made Don’s excerpt from “Let the Story Guide You” pure quality is that he managed to successfully weave personal narrative and a literary lecture into something inspirationally provocative. Our lives weren’t meant to be boring or linger in staid monotony. “Good stories have memorable scenes,” said Miller. And that night, amidst an evening of music, art, scrumptious food, and delectable readings - all for the support of a great charitable organization - made a great scene.

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Great write-up Olivia, thanks for sharing!