1980 My literary era

"By the way, Lin, do you know something?"

After talking about the publication of the novel, Roger Strauss suddenly asked.

"What's up?"

"Richard Yates is dead!"

In the last year of his life, Richard Yates's health deteriorated extremely. Due to tuberculosis, he had difficulty breathing. He kept coughing and wheezing, and could only breathe with the help of an oxygen mask.

Finally, on November 7, 1992, he died of emphysema and complications at the age of sixty-six.

A good friend went to his home, where there was only a desk, an old printer, and photos of his three daughters hanging on the wall. However, they had been separated from him for many years and had been living with his ex-wife.

Lin Weimin was a little surprised to hear the news, but he didn't feel that surprised. After all, he already knew that Richard Yates was in poor health when he corresponded with him.

But he couldn't help but feel a little sad when he suddenly heard that his old friend had left, and that the evening scene was quite desolate.

Lin Weimin and Richard Yates have never met, but they have corresponded for many years, so it is not an exaggeration to call them "friends".

Now that Richard Yates has left, Lin Weimin can't help but think about the time he asked for his help in publishing an anthology of essays a few months ago.

The Foreign Languages ​​Office has a heavy workload this year, and the editing and review efficiency of Richard Yates's collected works is not very high. According to the current progress, it will not be published until at least the middle of next year.

The publication of the collected works in the future will be worthy of his promise to Richard Yates.

The only regret is that this edition of the anthology is not in English.

"Roger, Richard has passed away. Your publisher is not going to take advantage of his popularity?"

"What's the meaning?"

Lin Weimin then told the story of Richard Yates's request for his help in publishing an anthology of essays during his lifetime. "I think if an anthology of essays is published in the United States, there should be a certain market for it, right?"

Roger Strauss couldn't help but be moved, "Lin, Richard is honored to have a good friend like you."

"It's nothing. It's just a pity. Richard is a great writer and he shouldn't be treated like this." Lin Weimin said regretfully.

Roger Strauss was moved, but in the face of Lin Weimin's request, he still pondered.

"If you are worried about losing money, how about I pay a sum of money to publish this collection of essays for him at my own expense?" Lin Weimin said.

Roger Strauss said: "Lin, I'm not worried about this. It's mainly because Richard Yates has passed away. I don't have his authorization and I am not qualified to publish this collection of essays."

Lin Weimin hesitated, this was a problem.

He thought for a while and said: "Then can you contact his daughters? They are the heirs of Richard Yates and own the copyright and authorship of his works. Communicate with them and see if you can obtain their authorization. ?”

"That's all I can do. I'll be responsible for contacting you."

Lin Weimin said again: "Roger, I don't want you to be in trouble. It will definitely not make money to help Richard publish a collection of essays, but I will never let you lose money."

Roger Strauss said quickly: "Lin, you misunderstood. If I decide to publish his collected works, it must be a business deal. What do you think of this..."

Richard Yates's works are notoriously difficult to sell in the United States. Publishers basically pay for every copy they publish. Therefore, in these years, although Richard Yates's works have been published from time to time, they have basically sold out. It's all thanks to the help of friends.

Moreover, the printing volume is very low, most of which only have a few thousand copies, and the sales are not good. Many books cannot be sold in the end and can only be sent to second-hand bookstores for literature lovers who like to search for books.

If he really wanted to publish a collection of essays for Richard Yates, the first thought that came to Roger Strauss' mind was that he must have a brilliant marketing plan.

Holding the phone in his hand, he instantly thought of Lin Weimin on the other end of the phone.

"The century-old friendship between the great writers of China and the United States."

Roger Strauss is indeed a marketing genius, and he came up with a creative publicity point in an instant.

He planned to use Lin Weimin's relationship experience with Richard Yates and the fact that Richard Yates "entrusted him" to Lin Weimin at the end of his life as selling points to promote the sales of Richard Yates's collected works.

Lin Weimin pondered for a long time after listening to Roger Strauss's thoughts. After thinking for a long time, he finally said: "With such a publicity point, can the collection of essays be a bestseller?"

"It may not be a bestseller, but based on my experience, it will definitely be a hit for a period of time, and it will definitely exceed the sales of Richard Yates' previous works."

"Okay, then I'll do as you say."

After all, Roger Strauss took the risk. Now that he has figured out a way and is sincerely helping, it would be inappropriate for him to be pretentious.

One day in mid-November, Lin Weimin received a call from Renyi, saying that Su Zhi was retiring and planned to hold a farewell party for him.

Lin Weimin suddenly realized that he was going to retire soon.

In the evening of the next day, Lin Weimin came to Renyi.

The farewell banquet was held in the Renyi Canteen, which was Yu Zhi's request.

Since 1985, the drama market, which was once in full swing, began to decline, and it fell into stagnation within a few years.

In recent years, drama troupes across the country have been having a hard time, but Yanjing People's Art Theater has been quite effective as the face of the domestic drama industry.

After all, there are so many classic plays that can always attract a loyal audience.

However, this benefit becomes insignificant in the face of the increasingly growing market economy.

It turns out that actors in Renyi receive a monthly salary and performance subsidies. From time to time, they have to go to other places or even foreign countries to perform exchanges. They earn a lot of money, and they are very respectable when they talk about it.

But it hasn’t worked in the past two years. Prices have skyrocketed. Many people have made fortunes by doing business abroad, and wages in many units have also increased by leaps and bounds.

The shortcomings of units such as Humanities and Art in this regard are revealed. The wages can barely keep up with social development, but the performance subsidies are better than nothing. Comparing the two, it is equivalent to a sharp drop in income.

As a result, many actors in Renyi couldn't bear the poverty and either took a leave of absence without pay or took a long leave. They left the theater and completely threw themselves into the embrace of TV dramas.

The domestic TV drama industry has made great progress in recent years. For many actors, getting money quickly and becoming famous is much better than acting in dramas.

Today's farewell banquet was very simple.

When Lin Weimin arrived here, he was invited to Yu Zhi's table.

Although Lin Weimin does not have a staff in the People's Art Institute, he has created many classic dramas for the People's Art Institute over the years and has long been a "meritorious" screenwriter. In terms of historical status, he is only ranked under the "Three Elders of the Academy" and together with Ouyang Shan I respect this group of people as being on the same level.

So he has been the first deputy dean of the People's Arts for many years, and now he has finally retired. However, although he has stepped down from his administrative duties, he has not let go of his identity as an actor. He can still use his remaining energy in the People's Arts in the future.

The new first vice president of Renyi is Liu Jinyun, who often assists Mr. Wan in writing scripts. Lin Weimin is naturally familiar with him and needs no introduction.

"More than a month ago, I took Jinyun to Yanjing Hospital to meet Mr. Wan, and with his consent, Jinyun was appointed as the first vice president of Renyi."

Since the establishment of Renyi, there has been only one president, Mr. Wan.

Even though Mr. Wan has ignored secular affairs in recent years, out of respect, the title of dean still hangs on Mr. Wan.

Renyi only has the first vice-dean. Of course, the first vice-dean has the same powers as the dean.

So he retired and strongly recommended Liu Jinyun to take over, and Mr. Wan readily agreed.

This is not only because of his optimism about Liu Jinyun, but also because of his contribution to the arts over the years.

So in his early years, he was the leader of the creative team of Renyi. Nowadays, a large number of backbone directors and screenwriters of Renyi were discovered when he was the leader of the creative team.

At that time, Renyi vigorously recruited talents, and talents emerged in large numbers. Renyi's creative team was known as the "Little Literary Association".

During the years when he served as the first vice-president, he worked hard and produced a large number of excellent plays for the People's Arts, and his hard work was highly rewarded.

"Mr. Wan's health has gotten worse and worse in recent years." Souzhi sighed.

"Yes, after all, he is so old. I still occasionally go to his place to sit and chat." Lin Weimin said.

It has been a long time since I came to Renyi. When I came today, I saw many old acquaintances and said hello to each one. Lin Weimin was in a very happy mood.

However, he also found that many familiar faces were missing. After asking around, he found out that they had all gone to the outside world.

Lin Weimin joked with Su Zhi: "You used to blame me for running away from Guangfu, how about this time? Guangfu is so foresight."

Li Guangfu is sitting at the next table. Now he is a famous "Three Li" in Yanjing City, with a net worth of tens of millions. He got the news today and took the initiative to attend the farewell banquet, which moved the old man very much.

After hearing Lin Weimin's words, Li Guangfu turned his head.

"After not acting for so many years, I really miss the stage. Maybe I will come back in two years."

So Zhi was coaxed with joy by his words, "If you come back, you have to ask Lin Weimin to write a notebook, otherwise it won't be worthy of your worth."

Everyone around burst into laughter, and the canteen was full of joy.

Among the talents who excelled in humanities and arts, Li Guangfu can be regarded as an accomplished one.

In just a few years, I have made tens of millions of dollars. When I see my old colleagues again, I will inevitably have to endure compliments, jokes, or sarcasm.

Compared with the complex perceptions caused by Li Guangfu, when it comes to Han Zhuangqiang, the mood of the family is more unified, with only envy.

In the past few years, Han Zhuangzhuang has starred in films such as "Red Sorghum", "Ben Ming Nian" and "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit", and has now become an internationally renowned movie star.

Everyone is an actor. Although Han Zhuangzhuang has a talent, he still does his job.

When old colleagues get together, it is inevitable to mention those who are not present.

Halfway through the farewell banquet, everyone gradually became more and more dissolute, and some people began to rush from table to table.

Feng Yuanzheng, whom he hadn't seen for several years, came over to toast Yu Zhi and Lin Weimin. Lin Weimin saw him and asked with a smile: "Xiao Feng, when did you return to China?"

"Teacher Lin, I returned to China last year, and Dean Yu was kind enough to let me come back to act."

So Zhi said: "Xiao Feng is a good actor. He didn't study in West Germany in vain. It would be a pity not to return to Renyi to act."

It can be said that there is only one person in a hundred who goes abroad and returns to China these days. If there is such a person around, everyone will inevitably spread some gossip, most of which are such words as "I must have come back because I couldn't survive abroad." .

Lin Weimin encouraged: "Just come back. Once you go out, you can see the world and gain skills. Of course, you have to come back to serve the people."

Feng Yuanzheng thanked Lin Weimin for a glass of wine.