The natural world

Watched a bit of the new CNN series, "Planet in Peril," which I found disappointing and journalistically self-indulgent. I still am appalled that they replaced the excellent journalist Aaron Brown with the touchy-feely Anderson Cooper. But that's another story.

At one point, Cooper was reporting on the return of wolves to Yellowstone. An environmental success story, a scientist called it. Once again wolves are killing bison and fighting bears -- the natural order of things.

Which raises an interesting question: perhaps human aggression and war also are part of the natural order of things. This was the thesis of two books in the 1960s ("On Aggression" and "The Territorial Imperative"), which I happened to review for The New Republic, my break-through with that magazine (and the issue with my review came out the very week the University of Oregon hosted its new grad students, so that the first thing the English Chair said to me was, "How nice to see your piece in the New Republic, Mr. Deemer!" There's no place but down after that ha ha. I didn't disappoint the gods in this regard.)

It was exciting to review the books for a major magazine. I had sent along a review of one on a whim, and they telegrammed back (remember telegrams?) asking if I'd expand it and add the other, newer book. Better, this all happened when I was house-sitting my parents' house over the summer, with many L.A. friends visiting. Felt like a real big shot, and had a short deadline, so I worked in the middle of a party some of the time. The experts hated my review since I had no anthropological credentials to review such material but I liked the credit nonetheless.

In grad school, as later, my career seems to be to start at the top and fall from there, finally disappearing into the literary margins (which is where Kazantzakis says everything happens). I publish a math article as a sophomore; the review above is out the very week I meet my boss, the Chair; my first play wins a national contest; I arrive in Portland at exactly the right time for a playwright to put down roots; I talk myself into being instrumental in founding and shaping Oregon Business Magazine; I go crazy with hyperdrama, far ahead of the curve; and so on. Hit the ground sprinting, zoom to quick success, and disappear into oblivion.

Who needs a near-death experience? My CAREER is a near-death experience! Ah, the writing life!