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Show 2B Sun Advocate Price, Utah Thursday April 18, 2002 i femes arcs, she said. "But it was still nice. In fact it's still nice today It hasn't changed all that much." Tkkacs knows about beingeth-ni- c in an ethnic town, lier grandparents came from Hungary She grew up In a two family house with her grandparents, aunts and her nuclear family mOe (Continued from page 2B) bon County to work at CEU. Ihkscs, on the other hand gains her inspiration from every day life and what goes on around ' her. "There are poems from various pmiods of our life togtthcr," she says. There are poems from years ago about my son when he was five weeks old (hebnuwl7) up to the present time. Many of the poems are family poems, about both this family and my What was interesting about aD that is that there was always someone there, Bhc said. My grandparents never learned to speak English very wdl so it was hard to get to know them. But there was always someone there when I came home. The immigrant family experience made a mark on her life. Everyone worked in the family just to pay fur that house, she said smiling My grandparents could not really afford it alone so my aunts and my father really paid lor the house. Neither of my aunts ever gut married, family" Tfckacs has a way of looking at things In Carbon County from a different perspective, since she grew up in New Jersey right across the river from New York City ls "I went to SL Anthonys Catholic school growingup in New Jersey she says biugh- ingly That experience molds her thoughts at times. "Like all writers, 1 produce a lot of biographical stuff," she aD-gir- because they were tuo busy work-in- said. "Usually it's about the friends I had or about old boyfriends. A lot of it is about growing up in New Jersey Artuallv some of it is really funny" She also likes to write about nature, particularly of eastern Utah. But there are other things here that make her happy too. "I like Price. I know it sounds hinny but actually Price reminds me socially of Bayonne where I grew up, she states. "There are so maiy ethnic groups here. Just like home. I think that may bewty it is bo easy for me to write; I fed so comfortable here. Bayonne, NJ is named alter the city France because of all the water that surrounds iL Located on Newark Bay the city is industrial, but the neighborhood Thkacs grewup in was herwurid when she was a child. Her geographical world was almost the opposite of the countryside Minich was raised In. "There were probably 300,000 people in a three by two Alter Catholic school, Tskacs worked in New York and attended New Jersey City University where she got a bachelor's degree in English. At first I wanted to be an artist, likea water color artist, she stated. But I was not very good. In fact I was pretty bad at that I tookacreativewritingdasSb'nie instructor liked my poetry and I said to myself 1 think I want to continue with that So I asked her where the best place to go on with my education would be and she said I should go to the University of Iowa. So she ended up at the gradu- -. ate writing programs on the banks ofthe Iowa River in the rid capitol of the Hawkcye state, Iowa City "My family thought it was weird, she said laughing "Huy all thought I should just stay home and work. They didn't want me to leave the house much less move to Iowa. I guess they wanted me to pay for the house too." Friday Night Special BBQBaby Back Ribs $4945 49 CoT8 LCDraftsall dayTeverfday CoMBstr RoolTfcMts Mon.-ft- u. 1030 am 8pm, -- F1LI1 SaL 830 n-- 10pm, 148 S. Main SL in Historic Helper Price Sunday 472-04- 830 am-&0-0 pm 03 atfs Eastern Utah Wind Symphony ' i i . ' f : f-is- j V r jtP .a. to - o n t V1 j f. 'ar iL il This is the photo that inspired Jan Mirach to write his book of poetry called The Letters of Silver Dollar." The she had written and that had been published to President Teddy Roosevdt in 1910. Not long after this she went to work for ttw Denver Times and published her only novel photo is of to21 year old Silver Dollar presentinga song Ufa" In the meantime, Takacs worked part time at the college teaching adjunct and as a Btringcr for the Salt Lake Tri- bune. "That didn't work out too well, she explained. Theywould call me up and say I needed to go hereorlnceded to go there, about any time of the day WfeQ they wanted me to go right when they called, but I didnt have a baby Bitter to take care of our son. Besides, for the hassle the money wasn't worth iL Then she got a half time position at the college which eventually led to a full time profes8or-shiFbr several years, she and of the Jan made up English department at CEU sinoe there was only one other professor, Larry Severeid. Then the college started to grow again by leaps and bounds and the department grew along with ft, declared Ifckacs. But poetiy was always important Inher life. "When I actually began writ-inwas writing fiction. Beforel ever toritacreative writing class Iwould follow my friends around and write stories about our experiences in high school, she states. "Whenllook back I realize that I had probably always wanted to write, but all of my p. two-thir- gl of autobiographical poetiy Fbr instance, Ihaveapoem about my son that is called Thirteen. Its about when be was 13 years rid, d but it is only based on the with him when hewas experi-enoeslha- that npnri wyinewn friate in It If they have hadachlld that was thirteen. In it I tried to capture him at that age so I will always have that part of him. Actually I try to capture the simplicity and the complexity of the subject at the same time. In a sense, the poetiy she writes is truthful, but not factual. Tm trying to gain truth in poetry by taldngacomptex subject sudiasngrsonandputtingdown the truth on paper in simple terms that people can understand, she states, "tts almost as If Im afraid of losing time. I sometimes wantto retrieve foe past, such as some facet of the relaifonshiplhad with my mother and I want to put it down in front of me and experience it again. I get that not only through the process of writing about it, but it is there anytime I want to go bad: to it Emotion isafector inher writsoine-thingfro- m ing. I dont go through too many emotions whenlamwrttingmost of die time. But when my mother died a few years ago, I was hav-Ing- a hard time that, she says. "It was almost like there was this barrier and I couldn't write anything about anybody I tried, but there wu just something there that I couldnt break through. I find I do writing better In retrospect rather than at the time of the occurrence I am writing about Raets write not onfy to express themselves, but so others can share their thoughts. A problem I see with poetiy today is that people who come into our classes think that poets write thrir poetiy so it is inao-ceBsib- fe to others, Bhe says. R etiy is not written bo you cant understand Why would an author do that? Theywant others to read it and to interpret it All youve got to do Is think about It and fed what die poet is saying Then there is the subject of what she writes her poems about She often talks about her "New it Jersey poetiy and her "Utah poetiy The New Jersey poems area different chapter In my Hfe," she states. "They have to do with growingup in a metropolitan at- mosphere and my Hungarian background. Everyone there drankalot; that ties in with fam- ily gatherings and friends. Drinldngwasapart of Hfe for everyone I knew; rid and young Some of my poems deal specifi cally with that aspect of life. Utah poems tend to be more about nature and the way life proceeds. Her poem Owling" cap- tures a time when Bhe, Jan and their Bon went down the road to: see some baby owls that sat on; the poweriine wires. The adult owls would take off and fly; around them, but the babies; would watch because they had no; four ofhumans. One day theowte were gone. They found out kids' with BB guns had killed the birds' because the little ones would not! move when people came around,' Takacs still writes about n ture, but also about womens is- sues and love. She has written; jlwiMnifa of pnptnn ' Thkacs first book of poetiy Pale Blue Wings, was published by Limberiost Press in Boise,' Ida last year Consequently It was I lecenqyreviewBdfatbB&iflZafe Tribune and gotave good rat-- ; frig from that papers review editor. The fact Is that poetiy Is not money making endeavor Published books usually number af most in the hundreds, but the art that is produced by poets such as TUuus and Minich is timeless. Two'poets and two ways of creating the art they love coining from one life together. Thats almost poetiy in of Ifr sett. 5 friends thought Iwa8 weird. They frit that way mostly because I would write stories about what good. But she really liked my po. etry reveals Takacs. So I decided to write more of it and I liked writing It lhad done some in high school and hated tt, but this was different because she wanted us to do free tom poetiy and I really like it The Lighter Side with guest artist - Matthew Murchison Recognized Euphonium Soloist Saturday April 20 at 7:30 p.m. Price Gvic Auditorium Admission is free GflSTMTE H . When 8hetookacreative writing class at college, the instructor said her fiction wasn't very presents m per-Bo- t v' wewoulddoandbevaytruthftil about ft. They didnt Bbe that truth part too much; it trid to many Culture Connection Internationally g" After she met Jan and they moved to Salt Lake Takacs as a worked at Speny-Univa-c tech writer and Bhe taught night classes as adjunct faculty at Westminster College, Columbia College of Salt Lake and the university She also substitute taught in many of the school districts around the Salt Lake area. Duringthat entire time, however, Thkaes was writing poetiy as well as working When Jan was almost through with the doctoral program, he found that a professor at CEU was leaving for a year on a sabbatical. He applied for the position and was hired. When the on sabbatical decided not to come back, he was able to get on permanently That wu 16years ago and it meant a new life for both of them. Takacs had to find employment, too. I had applied for several full time jobs at CEU and didnt get hired," she states. "Then my son was born and I was kind of happy that I didnt have a full time job for the first couple of yean of his few Ttakacs sees poetiy asaanap-sho- t of a place in times. T like to capture a moment in time," she explains. I write a lot POSSE ii00T0f? J? 3 action filled days of shooting recreate tales true or not of Butch and the Wild Bunch in the very country they roamed The San Rafael Swell in Central Utah Bprfl 88, 27 & S8 Follow the signs 13 miles east of Huntington, Utah in the San Rafael Desert STUB HUH HITCH FBL & 1ST. II John Wesley Powell Museum features art of Ivan Kelly Irish bom Ivan Kelly moved to Canada in 1972 and began painting "on location in toe Rocky Mountains. Ha aI Si aM Sa auJ aaLuA atul specunzas mi nen cows era moons iram swvsnaoow comiasis m ms la noscape ano manna oo paintings, no nas received numerous awards for his work indudirtg honors from too American Society of Marino Artists and toe winsor-new- mw wJ ubihm irani ro uh Paiiitimw m or MnBnca. NEW HOURS STARTING APRIL 15 iVl ) WWday-Saturda- y pm am-12K- X) M 'APlayland Qoses H ?iaoses 11:00 pm Drive Thru Qoses Come and see what Cowboy Action Shooting is all aboiif and enjoy the entertainment Saturday Entartainmont Starling at 10:00 am, n.nn Tho deadline for aeeinl octfi Featuring: John Hagnar, Hollywood Stuntman's Hail of Fama Dr. Slava Lacy, Author of Txist of tha Bandit Ridars Western Leathenwork of Lorry Lasso The Nino Mile Players Old Western Tbnes Cowboy Poetry and Readings 11 pm McDonald 409 East Main, y i stories, photos Is Friday at ' noon i |