Well, shut my mouth and drag me into the 21st century! I’ve done a lot of celebrity interviews – on buses, in bars, riding a horse. But my exchange with Andrei Codrescu, author, poet, screenwriter, National Public Radio commentator and wit, was a first, done entirely by e-mail.
Codrescu, who fled communist Romania at age 20 and now charms listeners of NPR’s “All Things Considered” with his heavily accented commentaries, appears at CU-Boulder at 4 p.m. Friday, discussing “Lose a Country, Gain a World: Reflections on Exile.”
A professor of English at Louisiana State, he recently published “New Orleans, Mon Amour,” a collection of essays about the Crescent City, a metropolis with a dark future, if his predictions come true.
Some of our online conversation:
Q: Have radio appearances made you a “star”?
A: I’m a huge star. If you can spell my name, I’m yours. Seriously, though, I’m more like the head of a cult. I’m worshipped by people who’d like to speak better English.
Q: What’s the trouble with political conversation in this country?
A: It’s hard to have a sense of humor in the middle of a war. It’s a war nobody wanted and nobody knows how to get out of. Even satire becomes pale when people are dying for no good reason. The public arena is full of frustrated ideologues, second-rate demagogues and retired spooks. These guys don’t talk, they spout.
Q: How’s New Orleans doing?
A: It’s mortally wounded, and it may soon be the only American city where poets, artists, perverts and crooks can live cheaply and freely. It won’t be so good for decent people with children.
Information on Codrescu’s appearance in Boulder is available at 303-492-1423.
Go climb a rock
Host Lauren Abraham risks eye- opening rock climbs near Telluride on “Destination Wild” (6:30 p.m. Feb. 20, FSN Rocky Mountain). Less perilous, she’ll also visit the Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
It’s the second time “Wild” has been in Colorado. A show on the state’s many outdoor activities aired in December.
Around the dial
KALC 105.9-FM (“Alice”) goes live from The Children’s Hospital Wednesday through Friday for its annual campaign, which has raised more than $4.7 million. Last year, the 36-hour livecast raised $1.1 million … Dom Testa, author of the “Galahad” series of books for young adults and morning man at KIMN 100.3-FM, emcees the opening of the Creative Expressions Center on Feb. 23. Ticket info at rockout@excite.com. … … Quotable: “New Orleans was always charmingly dysfunctional.” Andrei Codrescu.
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
