Chapter 697: An Old Friend of the American People
The New York Times is a daily newspaper that has been published for more than 140 years. It has long been a representative of serious publications in the United States. Its sales volume has always ranked among the top ten newspapers in the United States. It has a huge influence, especially among intellectuals, politicians and people in the literary and art circles.
The content of the interview was communicated in advance and the process went smoothly. It was published in the New York Times on November 6th one day later.
The next day was the launch of "The Collected Works of Richard Yates". FSG Publishing was very influential, and editors and reporters from many famous American literary magazines, literary review magazines and newspapers such as "American Literature", "Paris Review of Books", "Paris Review" and "The Washington Post" attended the launch conference.
In addition to these guests, several of Richard Yates's friends, including Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and others, also attended the press conference.
Kurt Vonnegut was somewhat emotional when he met Lin Weimin. He was not only a good friend of Richard Yates during his lifetime, but also a staunch defender of Richard Yates's literary achievements.
"Lin, I read your interview in the New York Times. Thank you, thank you for everything you have done for Richard!"
Kurt Vonnegut, who is over 70 years old, held Lin Weimin's hand tightly and said.
"Mr. Vonnegut, we Chinese have a saying, 'Be loyal to the person who entrusted you with your work. Richard is an excellent writer, and I think his talent and works should not be buried."
"That's right, that's right, you did something I always wanted to do but never did."
A book launch is different from a film press conference which is full of glamour. People who come are from the cultural and literary circles. Also, because the author has passed away, the atmosphere of today's launch is particularly solemn.
As the representative of the publishing house, Roger Strauss introduced the literary achievements of Richard Yates and the reasons why FSG Publishing published "The Collected Works of Richard Yates", which inevitably mentioned the relationship between Lin Weimin and Richard Yates.
This is of course a deliberately set topic. Since this year, the friendship between Lin Weimin and Richard Yates has gradually spread in the American literary circles through FSG's publicity channels.
Lin Weimin spoke after Roger Strauss. Through Roger Strauss's words, everyone present knew that Lin Weimin was the mastermind behind the publication of "The Collected Works of Richard Yates".
The New York Times interview was just published yesterday and many people present have read it, so they are more interested in the mutual admiration between the two and they are looking forward to Lin Weimin's speech.
"Today is the launch of the Collected Works of Richard Yates. I think if Mr. Yates is still alive, he would be very happy.
I first heard of Richard Yates when I first came to New York. There are many second-hand bookstores here, and for a book collector, there is no better place than here.
In the West End Bookstore, I found a book called "Revolutionary Road".
After reading it, I like this book very much. Because this book is different from many American literary works I have read. The American society it depicts is something I have never seen in other works. This is a unique realistic work in the American literary world.
That's why I became interested in the name Richard Yates.
In my opinion, a writer who can write such an excellent work as "Revolutionary Road" should be very famous.
I talked to several bookstore owners and readers, but their feedback to me was that Richard Yates was not a famous writer, his works were not popular, and even few of his books could be found in second-hand bookstores.
This situation left me a little confused. Later, I read several novels by Richard Yates, and I became more and more convinced of his talent. His talent was in no way inferior to that of great writers such as Washington Irving, Eugene O'Neill, and Pearl Buck.
Two years later, I came to the United States and New York again, and I found several books by Richard Yates in a second-hand bookstore.
As a writer, no one understands better than me the pain of seeing my works appear in second-hand bookstores, and I felt I should do something.
I contacted Richard through Roger, hoping to introduce his works to China.
You may not know that, in addition to being a writer, I am also an editor, and at the time I was in charge of China's most famous literary magazine.
The introduction of Richard Yates’ works went very smoothly. In a few years, his works have sold hundreds of thousands of copies in China. I know this is certainly not a very high number, but at least it is better than in the United States…”
Lin Weimin paused for a moment, and the audience laughed in good faith. Everyone knew what was going on with the sales of Richard Yates's books in the United States.
"For several years, Mr. Yates and I had not met, but we kept in touch. It was not until the middle of last year that I received a letter from Mr. Yates, in which he described his illness and made a request to me, that is, to publish a collection of his works in China, and I agreed to it.
In June of this year, the Chinese version of The Collected Works of Richard Yates was published in China.
At this point, applause broke out from the audience, and everyone present was moved by the close friendship between Lin Weimin and Richard Yates.
After the applause stopped, Lin Weimin continued: "When I was planning the Chinese version of The Collected Works of Richard Yates, I had another thought in my mind, and I always felt a little regretful.
Mr. Yates is an American, and all his works are about American society. If his collection of essays cannot be published in the United States, it will be a loss to the American literary community and readers.
So, I contacted Roger..."
Lin Weimin and Roger Strauss looked at each other tacitly.
"Roger is a publisher with ideals and feelings. He shares my opinion that Richard Yates is an outstanding writer who has been buried. We hit it off and decided to have FSG Publishing publish The Collected Works of Richard Yates."
When he said this, Lin Weimin took a deep breath and spoke in a firm tone.
“Richard Yates is one of the greatest writers in the history of American literature in the 20th century, and his works and literary achievements have long been ignored by American society.
Today marks the first anniversary of the death of Mr. Richard Yates, and his collection of essays is about to be published.
I think it's time we gave Mr. Richard Yates justice.
A writer as good as him should not be buried, let alone die in loneliness and obscurity. "
After Lin Weimin finished speaking passionately, he immediately drew warm applause from the audience. They were all infected by Lin Weimin's full emotions and impassioned speech.
Those who are able to come here today are more or less people who recognize Richard Yates's level and literary achievements, and are glad to hear that Lin Weimin, a foreign writer, has given such high praise to Richard Yates.
When thinking about the treatment Richard Yates has received in the American literary world for a long time, this group of people inexplicably developed a sense of solidarity and hatred against the enemy.
The applause was long and warm, and everyone poured all their guilt and admiration for Richard Yates onto Lin Weimin, the enthusiastic international friend.
Kurt Vonnegut, Raymond Carver and others looked at Lin Weimin on the stage with tears in their eyes.
At this moment, they saw the rebirth of Richard Yates in Lin Weimin.
He was a lonely soul who was dedicated to writing reality through literature.
After a long time, the applause finally stopped.
Lin Weimin walked off the stage amid everyone's admiring and respectful gazes. He was just one of today's guests, and there were several other guests following him, all of whom came to promote "The Collected Works of Richard Yates" and were all good friends of Richard Yates during his lifetime.
Influenced by Lin Weimin, everyone was very emotional when they spoke. Some people burst into tears on the spot and were choked up and couldn't speak, which made the atmosphere at the scene sublime again.
Many editors and reporters were infected by this atmosphere, and their hearts were filled with regret for Richard Yates and admiration for Lin Weimin.
A Chinese writer and an American writer met through literature but never met each other, but they trusted each other with life and death.
Which literary youth can stand the torture of such a scene!
The articles in major newspapers and magazines may be delayed, but all the literary figures who attended the press conference are eager to spread everything that happened at the press conference to the American literary world.
In a very short period of time, various information about Richard Yates, the Collected Works of Richard Yates, Lin Weimin, and FSG Publishing were widely circulated in the American literary circles.
At the same time, Lin Weimin's exclusive interview in the New York Times, including the passage in which he mentioned Richard Yates during an interview in the United States a few years ago, has also attracted the attention and discussion of many people in the American literary circle.
Many American media also noticed the spread of this "great friendship" and followed suit in reporting on it.
For a while, the names of Lin Weimin and Richard Yates were closely linked together like the entangled Gemini constellation, and frequently appeared in the vision of the American public.
Since his works such as Farewell My Concubine were published in the United States in 1983, his plays were released on Broadway and his novels were adapted into movies, Lin Weimin has already cultivated a large readership base in the United States.
However, his readership and mass base are still based on his works rather than his identity.
This time, Lin Weimin cooperated with FSG Publishing and spared no effort to promote "The Collected Works of Richard Yates", which not only brought Richard Yates, a writer who had long been ignored by American society, back into the public eye, but also made Lin Weimin himself gain the goodwill and recognition of countless American people.
After media publicity, in the eyes of these people, Lin Weimin's image can be described as talented and noble, and he can be called an old friend of the American people.
There are only two updates today. My wife and child are positive again, but I am fine...
(End of this chapter)
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