Another wintry storm Friday

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Earlier this week I reported on the tragic news that 

Minnesota playwright Tom Poole was hit by a car

Today I spoke with George Roberts, Poole's brother-in-law, about the latest. While Poole's basic vital signs are stable, he has not regained consciousness. Here's an excerpt of an update he posted to 

Roberts says good wishes and prayers have been flowing in; the most useful gestures have been those to help Poole's family (wife Geanette, daughters Nora and Molly) get through daily life - cooking, laundry, dog-walking, the loan of freezer space for food that's come in, etc.

Those efforts are being coordinated by a family friend at 

Meanwhile, playwright Alan Berks has compiled 

 for Minnesota Playlist, which give a great sense of Poole's personality. Here's an excerpt:

My secret conviction is that anything that's "a good idea for a play" has absolutely no chance of ever becoming a play I'd want to watch. If you can tell me briefly about your play, and I can immediately grasp what you are up to and how it can be promoted, then we are probably sharing our recognition of a cliche that you hope to freshen for the market. On the other hand, if the description of a new play begins, "Well, it's kind of complicated," I find that promising, especially if I'm talking to the writer, the director, or a cast member two days before opening.

For me, the real test of my own new project is always whether I want to do the work required to turn a given idea into an actual play more than I want to eat kettle chips and watch reruns of Ultimate Cage Fighting. It's a cruelly high standard, but you can't write all the time.

I wrote a five act revenge tragi-comedy in verse based on Thomas Pynchon's description of a fictional performance in his novel The Crying Of Lot 49. When the play was read at the Playwrights' Center, Lee Blessing said it was the best five act revenge tragi-comedy in verse he'd ever seen there. Such are the rewards of new work.

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Tests will continue this weekend aimed at getting him to breathe on his own.

Playwright Tom Poole still unconscious, stable

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