C/D: old, probably senile men who are trying to an autobio but refuse to include any details and in some cases even deliberately offering cliched lies in order to mask the uncomfortable memories from

Then again, I'm also questioning some of my own motives for writing and editing -- I'm already omitting various notes and such because of what I consider to be problems with quality. I mean, I'm already nipping and tucking things quite a lot, it's got the stink of my aesthetics on it if you read it close enough, and given the autobio deal (and the fact that this thing's supposed to be written by him, not a ghostwriter), there's a tricky situation I'm getting into.

This is what I get for reading/posting to ILX when I should be working on the ms.

Don't ask direct questions.
Don't ask "why" ask "how" (which elicits a series of steps rather than a justification/producing defensiveness).
THEN take him to a karaoke bar, get him roaring drunk, because then he is culturally permitted to tell you the juicy stuff.
Have fun.

Moderator delete thread please.

There's an old man who I see every morning walking from the lake, and for a while I thought he was walking to the train. He wears a suit and carries a little brown tote bag. He looks like Lorne Greene and never says hi to me even though I pass him with my dog and say hi politely.

Then I realized that I see him every afternoon too, only he takes off his jacket because it's getting warmer outside and surely he's kinda hot. Today I looked at his face, and it was totally red, and I realized that he must be walking around the block for hours, probably as an escape from the nursing home where he lives (there are at least three within a block or two of my apt.)

In sum, he is not a man on his way to work; he is a senile old man. He looks so unhappy.

one day you should arrange little events to liven up his day, something like a (fake) signed photo of lorne greene on a bench where he's about to set, a printout of a praiseworthy article about suits similar to his suit, an article about the benefits of walking. anything to make the guy smile. try to find out more about him, like where he used to live and try to chat about them with them.

if you make unhappy senile man into a happy senile man then you'll be increasing the good in the world, plus having an exciting little puppet-master adventure.

Did this book ever come out? I would totally hang out with an old Japanese dude who called me buddy.

just had an hour long discussion with him, and two of the many things that irk me are 1. his disinclination to tell his feelings on a subject

If done well, I think that having someone not go on about their feelings on a subject could be a good thing. People go on about their feelings too much, says the buttoned-up and reticent New Dirty Vicar.