The other night I gave one of my grad students a copy of a short creative non fiction piece I’ve been working on as part of a collection of Buffalo NY stories. She needed some guidance on how to incorporate scene and location in an organic way.
The piece I’m writing is about Billie Lawless’ public art “Green Lightning,” which as any Buffalonian over the age of 45 (or maybe 40…hard to say) remembers created furor and got Mayor Griffin’s tighty whites in a bunch. Yep, Hizzoner showed how closely he could turn fascist on that one!
Granted, glowing neon penises along the Elm-Oak Arterial might not have been the wisest move. But Common Council did approve the funding. Of course, the artist didn’t necessarily offer up accurate renderings of the dancing dicks…
My student, Becca, was kind enough to send me a photo of Green Lightning in all its (genuinely) 15 minutes of fame. I’m uploading it here as a reminder of the evening when penises danced along the Arterial, and even though many of us had been drinking at Garcia’s (RIP…Garcia’s Irish Pub) that evening, we weren’t seeing things.
Thanks, Becca! The laugh alone seeing this sight again was worth opening my morning email. For those of you who don’t remember….
