2007-07-05

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This morning I lost about a pint of blood to a skinny blonde Russian lab technician who looked like the chick from Roxette. Then I went to Floyd's and had Robert cut off most of my hair. Really. There were epic, Odyssean piles of it all over the floor by the time he got through with me.

I got home, had some leftover Indian food, and opened the mail. Credit card offers, a couple of bills, and the alumni mag for Emerson College (where I got my MFA). I opened the magazine, and burst into tears. Playwright Carpenter dies.

Betsy Carpenter was my advisor and mentor during my years at Emerson. I studied playwriting and screenwriting with her, she chaired my Master's Project committee, and she directed my play "Penny Candy" back in September of '95.

I actually first met Betsy a couple of years prior, when I was a house manager for the Cambridge Theatre Company, which was housed at the Hasty Pudding at Harvard. I found her utterly scary and utterly fascinating. That actually never ceased being the case. She'd take me out for Indian food and just RIDE me for not working quickly enough, for not getting enough written, but she always made sure to tell me how much she believed in my work. She'd call and say, "Lees? It's that nice Betsy Carpenter again..." My fellow playwriting students and I took to referring to her as That Nice Betsy Carpenter.

I feel, right now, that I am not doing her any justice. I am actually ashamed to say that I hadn't been in touch with her for a long time. My writing has taken a more autobiographical, essay form in the past 7 years or so. But my time with her gave me a real love and appreciation for new plays. Whenever I catch myself fuming over the latest movie-turned-Broadway-musical, I think of Betsy. When I greet friends or coworkers with a "Hi, cats and kittens!" I think of Betsy. She was never far from my mind, and now it's too late for me to tell her that.

Do me a favor and contact that teacher that made a difference for you. Go and see a play you've never heard of. Make a donation to the Betsy Carpenter Playwriting Fund at Emerson (120 Boylston Street, 7th Floor, Boston, MA 02116).

lisamcc at 5:02 p.m.

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