Will Burpee

After considerable deliberation, we've chosen some excerpts from the last few years' worth of "Take One" that we particularly like, and that we hope visitors to PWLF's website will enjoy as well.

Will is our essayist-in-residence. In addition to his essays, he is working on his first book which has elements of being semi-autobiographical. Will shares excerpts from his book during open mic events at IMO’s, using forum members to portray various characters. At some point in the future we hope to share excerpts of his book on this page as well.

From "Penny in my thoughts", March 1, 1998.
From "Still in my thoughts", February 27, 1999.
From "The Hale storm", July 15, 2001
The entire text of "An affirmation", Sept. 17, 2001
From "Overcoming the 'wobbly' syndrome", Nov. 11, 2001
From "Woman of any year", July 6, 2003

State Sen. Penny Severns died in 1998, but she was--and remains--a political hero of mine. I mourned her death deeply, and, (I) still commemorate her passing with a brief paragraph or two in the "Take One" nearest the anniversary of her death.

"Spending as much time as I have around the Capitol in the last several years has done a lot to remove most of whatever illusions I still had about politics. But Penny Severns was someone I admired without qualification....Words such as 'she will be missed' seem a vast understatement, as the lady from Decatur's passing leaves an almost aching void....In a time when we're all too familiar with politics at its worst, Penny was a shining example of politics at its best, of all the things it should be and rarely is. I felt proud to be in the same party with her, to believe in the same things she did, and to cast the only two votes I would have an opportunity to cast for her (for Lieutenant Governor), in the '94 primary and the general election. Any way you look at it, Ms. Severns was a true class act. That's hard enough to find in the world at large, and even rarer in politics."

-From "Penny in my thoughts", March 1, 1998.

"There's no one around today on the state political scene with Penny's combination of compassion, forthrightness, diligence and integrity. Illinois is richer because she was here; and poorer, and a great deal emptier, because she's gone...

"To me, a hero is not a larger-than-life, flawless, one-dimensional person. I can't relate to someone like that. I can relate to a real human being, with all the imperfections humans have. Maybe they don't win all the battles they fight. But they keep on going. It's that perseverance, that grace under pressure, that's really important.

(The song) 'Wind Beneath My Wings'...defines 'hero' as 'everything I would like to be'. That's as good a definition as any. That's the kind of hero Penny Severns is to me."

-From "Still in my thoughts", February 27, 1999.

"(The) World Church of the Creator claims legions of followers, but ..(is)…vague when it comes to actual numbers. What's more, unlike almost every other racist group, which seeks to appropriate God for their own purposes, the WCC does not. To the extent (Matthew) Hale's motley bandlet has a Messiah, it's Hale.

That's interesting, because I'm a king. I always liked the sound of King William I. I just don't happen to have a country or a palace...

His appearance in Springfield comes the same weekend as the annual meeting of the state Jehovah's Witnesses--a largely African-American group. Next to dying and being greeted in the hereafter by a God with dark skin, I think a city with the streets full of black people may be Matthew Hale's worst nightmare."

-From "The Hale storm", July 15, 2001.

"We witnessed...We cry...We mourn...But above all, we stand tall. And we stand together. We shall overcome."

-The entire text of "An affirmation", Sept. 17, 2001.

"I consider myself a peaceful person, but the time to talk peace with an adversary is not when he's coming at you with homicidal intent. In such a case, where it's clearly him or me, my choice, and my conscience, are both clear...They want us dead. What part of that don't you understand?

...I never thought of myself as particularly brave. To tell the truth, I thought I was something of a coward. But there's nothing like seeing one's country, and one's fellow citizens, come under attack to realize the amount of untapped courage within.

Courage is not the absence of fear. It's being afraid, and going ahead anyway, because your determination to do what you know to be right is greater than that fear....I hope I don't have to do the Nathan Hale bit, nor do I expect that to happen. But if circumstances so dictate, there are worse ways to die."

-From "Overcoming the 'wobbly' syndrome", Nov. 11, 2001.

"You can pay tribute to the past without denigrating the present. But I can't ponder the impressive body of work of Katharine Hepburn without comparing it to today's movies, and invariably finding the latter wanting. Especially this time of year, when movies tend towards huge, overblown, special-effects-laden things--more of a theme-park ride than a film. Don't think--it's too hot to be thinking, after all. Just switch your brain off and let the noise, action and special effects wash over you.

But all I've ever wanted in a movie is a good story, and that can be found just with two people talking, if what they're saying is interesting enough....I couldn't help thinking, 'In 50 years, who do you think they'll still remember--Demi Moore or Katharine Hepburn?' It's one of those questions one asks already confident of the answer."

From "Woman of any year", July 6, 2003.