Richard Alther
Richard Alther was born and raised in suburban New Jersey. He graduated as an English major from Cornell University and pursued twin careers as a writer and painter. He is the author of five novels: THE DECADE OF BLIND DATES (2008), SIEGFRIED FOLLIES (2010), THE SCAR LETTERS (2013), ROXIE & FRED (2017), and BEDSIDE MATTERS, published by Rare Bird Books on March 23, 2021.
After several years in Manhattan, he moved to Vermont and earned his family’s living writing extensively about vegetable gardening and homesteading. His simultaneous career as an exhibiting painter included gallery representation and one-person shows in Montreal, London, Los Angeles, Boston, Dallas, and Florida.
Richard has trained and competed nationally as a Masters Swimmer for several years, reaching the top ten at age 50. He divides his time between homes in Palm Springs, California and the Lake Champlain area of Vermont, where his grandchildren reside.
Twitter: @RichardAlther
Are there particular films that have influenced your writing?
One film which resides permanently in my memory bank, and continues to impact my writing, is INTERIORS by Woody Allen, from years ago. The two mature women are total opposites. The spurned wife played by Geraldine Page and the bubbly new lady friend played by Maureen Stapleton are yin and yang. They remind me that my stories should have a protagonist and an antagonist. Could be in same character but opposing forces are elemental to driving a tale.
Is there a genre of music that influences your writing/thinking? Do you listen to music while you write?
Mozart is my sidekick. I do not listen to music when writing but employ Mozart to lift my spirits. To whip them up to a plateau of optimism that pushes me to plunge in...to shoot for the possible...to overcome any inertia or doubt....to underscore that to make art especially if you're not a genius like Mozart at least go down slugging.
Favorite non-reading activity?
Swimming for me is an ego loss. Total side-stepping of the daily funk, or "monkey mind" as the Buddhists say of the ceaseless flow of thoughts. Swimming recharges my batteries, which indeed do get drained writing my novels.
Is there a work of art that you love. Why? Have you ever visited it in person?
The huge abstract oil paintings of Helen Frankenthaler form a portion of my mental grab-bag of inspiration. They sweep and are wild; I am not wild. She became celebrated for using oil paints washed down with turpentine to suggest the flow and ethereal quality of watercolors. In that they are often 12 or 20 some feet further take the breath away. Her work is another example for me of my opposites: writing makes me dig way deeper into qualities not on my surface but lay fallow, possible to be tapped.
Vacation druthers… City or Rural destination? Why?
I absolutely gravitate to the outback. Cannot get enough nature even though I live in the country. A vacation is so refreshing without daily work, plus it's sort of mindless, letting me absorb the beauty of mountains, sky, water, whatever. Cities are too much noise for a vacation; pastoral settings pull the plug.
