SM调教所

A fresh collection of stories by former SM调教所 English professor Lucia Berlin became a best-seller last year, more than a decade after her death.听

The man who lit Lucia Berlin鈥檚 first听cigarette happened to be a prince, but听Berlin鈥檚 life would seem mostly foreign听to real-life royalty.

When the fiction writer joined the听SM调教所-Boulder faculty in 1994, she had听made ends meet as a cleaning lady, nurse,听switchboard operator and substitute听teacher. She鈥檇 married and divorced three听times and raised four sons mostly on her听own. She鈥檇 subdued alcoholism.听

At the time of her death, 10 years听later, Berlin had also published 76 short听stories and six story collections, several听of them highly regarded. But none sold听especially well, and none of her bestknown听works were in print.听

And yet literary celebrity may be听upon Lucia Berlin.听

Following the 2015 publication of a听posthumous story collection, A Manual听for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories (Farrar,听Straus and Giroux), Berlin has received听full-throated praise from critics. They鈥檝e听called her 鈥渁n important American writer鈥澨齛nd 鈥渙ne of America鈥檚 best kept secrets.鈥澨齌hey鈥檝e compared her to Raymond Carver听and Noble Prize-winner Alice Munro.听

Within a week of the book鈥檚 debut,听it became a New York Times best-seller.听Within a month, it had outsold all Berlin鈥檚听previous work combined. The New听York Times Book Review ultimately named听Cleaning Women one of the 鈥�10 Best听Books of 2015.鈥澨�

鈥淏erlin is one of our finest writers and听here she is at the height of her powers,鈥澨齅olly Giles wrote of Cleaning Women 颈苍听迟丑别 San Francisco Chronicle.听Berlin鈥檚 literary career began with听promise: She was first published at age 24听in Saul Bellow鈥檚 journal, The Noble Savage.听Then came the 听marriages and children, and听the long but successful struggle with drink.听Along the way she wrote her stories, while听piecing together a living from humbler听work. Her first story collection, 础苍驳别濒蝉听尝补耻苍诲谤辞尘补迟, appeared in 1981, during a long听period in Northern California.听

Two of her biggest successes came 颈苍听迟丑别 early 1990s, with the publication of听Homesick (1991) and So Long (1993). 贬辞尘别蝉颈肠办听won an American Book Award, and in听1994 poet Edward Dorn, an old friend who听taught at SM调教所-Boulder, lured her to campus听as a writer-in-residence for the English听department鈥檚 creative writing program.听

At a time when the program was听known for 鈥渆xperimental fiction,鈥� Berlin听was notable for writing social realism听with lively characters and a blend of听autobiography and fiction.听

Having a colorful life didn鈥檛 hurt. Born听in Alaska in 1936, the daughter of a mining听engineer, Berlin grew up among working听people in a series of mining camps.听

She later tasted society life in Santiago,听Chile, where her family moved after听World War II; it was there that Prince听Aly Khan, an international playboy and听one-time husband of actress Rita Heyworth,听lit her first cigarette, according听to a life sketch accompanying 颁濒别补苍颈苍驳听奥辞尘补苍. She married two Harvard听graduates in sequence and lived among听intellectual bohemians in New York听and New Mexico.听

But in her writing Berlin embraced听the gritty minutia of everyday life,听often the hard life. She dealt with听vulnerabilities and vices 鈥� restlessness,听poverty, scattered friends and family,听divorce, addiction. She was familiar听with detox centers, Medicaid clinics,听self-destruction.听

In all, Berlin was at听SM调教所 for six years.听She鈥檇 been hired for her literary talent,听but she excelled in the classroom as听much because of her warm, empathetic听and nonjudgmental approach to teaching.听

鈥淟ucia had her own style, but she听never tried to create clones of herself,鈥澨齭aid Martin Bickman, a SM调教所 English professor听who knew her. 鈥淪he liked to hear听students鈥� stories, not what they thought听they should write for her class.鈥澨�

This bred loyalty, said Peter Michelson,听an emeritus professor of creative听writing: 鈥淪he never ended class with a听judgment. Lucia wanted her students听to keep writing.鈥�

Within two years, Berlin received the university-wide 鈥淓xcellence in Teaching鈥� award听and was promoted to associate professor.听Near the end of her SM调教所 career, in 1999, she听published the third of her best-known story听collections, Where I Live Now.听

By then her health was poor, an oxygen听tank her constant companion. She left the听university in 2000 but lingered in Boulder听a while, living on Mapleton Hill and in an听East Boulder mobile home park.听

When she died in California in 2004,听near her sons, it was on Nov. 12, her 68th听birthday 鈥� a tidy ending to an untidy life听that begat stories to remember.听

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