420
JOYCE CAROL OATES
1969
It
is
my job to outline precisely the
lives
of
others. Here
is
Elizabeth A.
Price. Coordinator of Urban Humani–
ties League. Born, 1921, Philadelphia.
Wellesley B.A., Michigan M.A.and
Ph.D., Psychology. Married to Norman
Price, lawyer. Active for fifteen years
in Humanities League. Civil rights
marches. Committees ... city, state,
federal. ... Cover story,
Look, 1967.
. . . A big blossomy woman with rouged
cheeks, very energetic. She
sits
waiting
to be interviewed on our show. You
can almost see the energy in her,
in
her plump upper arms and the tension
of her throat! The star
of
the show
is
Vince Ellman, famous here in Detroit.
He smokes quickly, helplessly, with
his
rogue's smile. A boy. A boyish boy of
forty-five. We have ten seconds to go.
Eight seconds. Vince
is
fooling around.
Everyone in the studio laughs. Mrs.
Price laughs. She
is
wearing a non–
descript suit and her laughter booms
out, ruddy and delighted.
We are on the air.
"This morning we have with us Mrs.
Elizabeth Price, known to
all
of you
for ..." Vince begins. His voice
is
abrupt and smooth, a little sly. He
is
a handsome man and he wears
his
hair
long, in the style of the day, with side–
burns. Boyish and a little sinister, he
smiles into one camera and then an–
other, he reaches over to pat Mrs. Price's
hand....
Watching the monitor I go blank.: I
think
of myself watching the monitor.
