Noel was telling me about his difficulties with a college history class when he said, “It always made me wonder if maybe history shouldn't be taught backwards because that's the way it exists in our minds.” He was suggesting that teachers start with current headlines and ask “Where do they come from? How did we get here? Then trace them back. That way would be more interesting for students.” In other (my) words, explanation and appreciation go together.
Both Noel and I were separately introduced to Substack through the work of a professor at Boston College. Heather Cox Richardson, a historian of 19th century America, writes Letters from an American, which puts today’s political news in historical context. We read her newsletter for a long time without knowing what Substack is. That may be true of you, too, especially if you’re getting Strings as an email.
I chose Heather as an example because her newsletter is the epitome of what Substack is designed to be. Letters from an American reaches 1.2 million readers, in part because her thoughtful, informed, in depth analysis of the most consequential stories. She is reaching more readers in a more timely way than she could if she were submitting opinion pieces to any regional newspaper in the U.S.
As an email newsletter platform, Substack is changing the world of online publishing. No longer do freelance writers have to rely on acceptance by editors to get their work published or to receive regular payment for their work if they choose to charge a subscription fee for all or part of it. In addition, Substack is a good place for providing a sense of community among writers and readers because it offers a user friendly forum for comments and a “recommendations” feature through which writers can introduce readers to their favorite Substack newsletters.
We chose Substack because it seeks to be a platform that celebrates good writing and gives writers maximum freedom within the expectation that we be respectful of each other and of readers. We like its simplicity and the fact that the platform does not get between us and readers, whom we regard as companions as we finish up our manuscript, work with a publisher, celebrate our book launch, and help us share our work to a broader audience.
As Noel and I write the last part of his autobiography we have several givens. We must be true to the events of his life in the last thirty years. That’s a long period of time, and we have to be selective and to keep focus on music, justice, and faith, just as we promise in our subtitle. The last paragraph will affirm that “there is Love,” and the last chapter must be true to “these times.” We hope to finish the manuscript in the next six months, with a message that endures, regardless of what happens in the next election. If you listened to Noel’s “I Will Stand” (Strings, Nov. 13) you know where we stand.
It sounds like an impossible task, doesn’t it? It is “walking the thin line between fear and the call.” You, our audience, are diverse. Most of you are politically progressive, but not all. Most of you are people of faith, but definitely not the same flavor of it. Most of you are U.S. citizens, but some of you live in Australia and Japan and other places where Noel and PP&M have had a following. I’d guess that what you, our readers, most share in common is a love of music, which is the universal language. Right now, our world needs as much universal language as possible.
As we walk this “thin line,” here’s what we are counting on. (1) An autobiography is first and foremost a story, not a political diatribe. Noel’s faith has a political expression, and both are integral to who he is. His public life continues to be lived in a historical context which has shaped who he is, just as he, Peter, and Mary have helped to shape history. Our task is to tell a story so that it becomes the best witness to his life than we can put in words. (2) We have faith in each other as creative partners who try to bring our best and most honest selves to the process, and we have faith that even (and perhaps mainly) when we disagree, something creative can happen. (3) We believe that our collaboration will have more strength and clarity if we check in with our readers once a week and see what you have to say to us. In other words, writing Strings will underline the arc of our book as we draw it to conclusion
All this is to say that we value you as readers and companions on our journey. As of today we have 1.16k subscribers, and in the last 30 days, Strings has had 8.89k views. We deeply appreciate your part in helping us grow. I’m still learning how Substack Notes and the “restacking” function work, but I do know that they are two of the ways you can recommend us to other Substack subscribers. We hope you will.
With thanks, Jeanne
Connections
What Actually Is Substack? - short presentation by Simon K. Jones
Heather Cox Richardson Interviews President Joe Biden
Vibrations
When I wrote that Noel and I are “the thin line between fear and the call’ in the last part of the book, I was referring to a verse in “For the Love of It All.” Another of Noel’s songs, “Be Real,” offers wisdom for that walk. He wrote it with Betty, his wife, and it’s on the Facets album, but I first heard it on a KidLinks album and loved playing it for my granddaughter. It’s message is good advice for kids, adults, and writers on Substack. (KidLinks is a nonprofit “committed to linking kids to healing, hope and happiness through music and media.” Noel worked with the production team at KidLinks for over 30 years, beginning in the mid-80s.)
Resonance
If you are a regular reader of other Substack newsletters, what is your favorite one and why?
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash.
You ask which is my favorite Substack. You've already identified it: Heather Cox Richardson's "Letters From an American." And for all the reasons you gave, but I will add a couple: she is eminently readable, and as someone else has pointed out elsewhere, she lists her sources.
I faithfully read “A Gathering of Spirits” by poet, singer, songwriter Carrie Newcomer. She is a Quaker with Midwestern roots who has been called a “prairie mystic” by the Boston Globe. I was raised in the Midwest but moved to the Southeast when I married, so her words speak of home for me. Her music and writing helps me balance “news of the world” with “news of the heart.”