Among the Intellectualoids
Stillman, J. Whitney
Among the Intellectualoids What does it mean to be a human being? I think that to be human means to love. If that is so, Franklin Vanderloon can only be described as a very human man. Dr....
...August IX...
...My discovery of yesterday reminds me that I once wrote Charlotte a note standing up in the kitchen near the refrigerator which she said at the time was rather nicely done...
...6. Woke up in the middle of the night last night and couldn't get to sleep for a while...
...August 11...
...Got The Many Faces of Love in the can this afternoon...
...July 26...
...3. Reconsider diary idea...
...5. Visited sick parishioners this morning, as I do every Wednesday...
...I wish I had my weekends free...
...There is in this country a network of highly-trained and heavily-armed paramilitary units which could, at any moment, seize total power—the metropolitan police forces...
...That's why I am a Democrat...
...This way, I can keep track of the various ideas which occur to me...
...It measures the degree of fascist tendencies a person has...
...Later took it out of the can to screen...
...Nov...
...Otherwise I feel that a turtleneck with a sports jacket has the right sort of dignified informality...
...I have been told that it is the bright spot in their week...
...Jan...
...Sermon: "Gob's Love...
...I keep a pencil and small pad of paper with me at all times so that I'll be able to record the ideas which come to me during stray moments...
...Watched the snowflakes falling in the arc of the garden light...
...Nov...
...March 6. I resolved to make some headway on the script today and have filled nearly a page...
...They love and admire a person who isn't really me at all...
...He decided instead to write something entirely new—a completely candid diary, in which his most personal thoughts and impressions would be faithfully recorded on a daily basis...
...The idea behind the word "God" is misleading...
...Love in Focus: A- Presbyterian Filmmaker's Odyssey is the title of a book Dr...
...But it is my wife Charlotte to whom I owe the greatest thanks...
...November XII...
...Think about Salvador Allende and the legacy of his Popular Unity government in Chile...
...Sunday, July 19...
...The experience of this chant was profoundly moving for me...
...As to the script, I think it would be best to try to perfect the page I've got done before going any further...
...Several members ask what kind of notebook best for recording frank thoughts and impressions...
...Raked leaves this afternoon...
...I have been selected to attend a special week of seminars at the Ecumenical Institute in Chicago...
...The world looks as if it were completely new...
...The others said they felt the same way...
...Vanderloon is minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Riverdale, New York, and director of the film program for the United Presbyterian Church, USA's Center for Information on Human Reproduction...
...Told Charlotte and Timmy...
...June 10...
...Service includes the usual hymns, prayers, offertory, etc...
...Mention St...
...Bob pointed out that I seem to have a unique talent for working with actors...
...Franklin Vanderloon's Love in Focus: A Presbyterian Filmmaker's Odysseybrings 1975 back in the most vivid terms...
...Sunday, February 1. Sermon: "Christ —What He Didn't Know...
...Charlie says that while Gob may at one time have existed, It does not exist now...
...headquarters at the Interfaith Building on Riverside Drive...
...July 25...
...July 8. Think about Gob, and the idea of Gob...
...When will we learn to control the sale of handguns...
...Milton Friedman was still at large...
...Sunday, Dec...
...For this I must thank my colleague, Dr...
...My relationship with Sarah can only deepen the love I feel for Charlotte...
...I read the Times, and later did some thinking...
...Each snowflake's pattern is unique—just like a human being...
...7. Sermon: "The Parable of the Prodigal Son and Prison Reform...
...I try to do this every Wednesday...
...Jan...
...President Ford would obviously test very high...
...Have been reading about the authoritarian personality...
...First there is syncopated hand-clapping...
...Sept...
...The second again answers, "Right...
...America was deep in depression that year...
...Does It really exist...
...Most people see today as the end of one year...
...She frightens me...
...Dec...
...Traditional hymns, offertory, etc...
...Point out that there are many things, familiar to us, which Christ never even knew about—the pill, the atom bomb, psychoanalysis...
...4. Saw President Ford on television tonight...
...March 3. Spent this afternoon putting together notes I've made for the Many Faces of Love script...
...The thought sent a shiver down my back...
...After dinner, as the sun went down, I sat in my chair on the lawn until after it was dark...
...The weather was crisp and the colors beautiful...
...Without her continual encouragement and support this book would never have been possible...
...I said that I only wear my collar when I am actually preaching...
...To be called The Many Faces of Love...
...And then everyone joins in calling, "It's O.K...
...9. Our progress on the film has been excellent...
...Feb...
...Would be totally honest...
...Jan...
...Oct...
...Got up and saw it was snowing outside...
...May 14...
...8. The Many Faces of Love went into production today, under my personal direction...
...Gob, not God...
...Sarah believes there will be a right-wing takeover this year...
...3. The United States is not in an economic recession but in a depression...
...April V. May VI...
...Jan...
...Sept...
...Sunday, Jan...
...Urge congregation members to keep diaries of their most personal thoughts and actions...
...In my despair one thought is tremendously reassuring: Gob loves me...
...Sunday, May 3. Sermon: "The Parable of the Prodigal Son...
...Sermon: "Our Father Who Art In Heaven—Man or Woman...
...This way I won't have to backtrack after finishing the rest...
...Driving into Manhattan this morning I was struck by the tremendous disparity between the living conditions of the rich and poor people in this country...
...Vanderloon has written in the form of a diary—but not just any diary...
...In town for meeting at United Presbyterian Church, U.S.A...
...More snow last night-1 1/2" in Riverdale...
...2. Had a fascinating idea this afternoon—why not keep a diary in which to record my most personal thoughts and impressions...
...What's important is that the most dedicated and sensitive people in this country thought that it might...
...Attended fellowship luncheon at the U.P.C...
...It's an ability I never knew I had before...
...Augustine's confessions but the need to get away from superstition...
...The phrase "many faces" in the title is actually being used on a far more sophisticated level, as a metaphor for the many unique ways an individual might choose to express his or her love...
...Sunday, August 3. Sermon: "The Sermon on the Mount...
...The message of Franklin Vanderloon's diary is, essentially, a human one: 1975 is a year which must never happen again...
...I don't believe that God is an old man who lives in a place called Heaven somewhere up in the sky...
...Ultimately it will make our marriage a richer one...
...Only strong leadership could get us out of this depression...
...I have not yet had the chance to tell Charlotte about my rela16 The Alternative: An American Spectator August/September 1976 tionship with Sarah, but I am sure she would have no objections...
...First day of the New Year today...
...June 9. I noticed in going over the film script that the second paragraph, which I wrote while lying down, is considerably better than the first, which I wrote sitting at my desk...
...Wonder about Gob...
...Shake hands with parishioners as they depart...
...Feb...
...Nov...
...Now that I am rolling I want to get as much down on paper as possible...
...Sermon: "The Parable of the Prodigal Son...
...Dec...
...Sunday, August 24...
...The title does not refer to literal "faces," which will only appear occasionally in the film, depending on the individual means of expressing love...
...I doubt they will make their move until later...
...After reading it I couldn't help wondering whether my natural ability doesn't lie more in the realm of poetry than in that of prose or scriptwriting...
...We started talking about appropriThe Alternative: An American Spectator August/ September 1976 15 ate modes of dress in a contemporary ministry...
...Sunday, Nov...
...I arrived in Chicago only last night, but the atmosphere here at the Institute is absolutely electric...
...It enables me to "write with the camera" as we go along...
...It is the tribute of over 140 poets from 27 countries to the late Pablo Neruda and to the legacy of Salvador Allende's Popular Unity government, which sought to bring socialism and justice to the Chilean people...
...The End...Or the Beginning...
...Have some interesting talks during Fellowship Hour...
...Sunday, October 26...
...Talk with Charlie Parsons about Gob...
...The first group calls out, "Life is good...
...I am afraid I must agree...
...December Dedication For Sarah 1975 January 1, 1975...
...Sermon: "The Parable of the Prodigal Son...
...He scares me...
...What this week has given me is nothing less than an entirely new outlook-on Christianity and on our whole society...
...Yet in a moment each snowflake would be obliterated...
...She's a Sagittarius...
...They were pleased...
...Sermon: "Gob & The Sermon on the Mount...
...I keep returning to the concept I learned last month at the Ecumenical Institute in Chicago: "G-O-B," "the Ground of Our Being...
...They're scared, too...
...For the Love of Gob Table of Contents I. January IL February III...
...Finally, the first group shouts, "All is good...
...Nov...
...Sept...
...Tell Charlotte about them afterwards—she says they sound interesting...
...I hope that his generation will do better with the world than ours has done...
...Sermon: "Gob & The Parable of the Prodigal Son...
...I think we might have something much bigger than an educational filmstrip...
...Sept...
...Jan...
...In 1975 the means of production were in the hands of individuals, the freedom to read was under attack, and, lastly but perhaps most importantly, some people had more things than other people had...
...Saw the Pope conduct Mass on television tonight...
...There's something called the F-scale...
...Sunday, June 28...
...April 11...
...There is a great need for honesty with self and God...
...Sunday, Dec...
...What we are thinking of now is entering it in some film festivals and then trying for commercial distribution...
...Seminar week ends today...
...Think about the disparity in incomes between rich and poor in this country...
...Service as usual this morning, followed by fellowship hour...
...Dec...
...J. Whitney Stillman, of New York, is an Aquarius...
...Nov...
...Usual prayers, offertory, etc...
...Dec...
...As it turned out, the Far Right was not successful in taking power in 1975, but that's not what's important...
...Jan...
...headquarters in the Interfaith Building...
...9. I saw an interview with President Ford's daughter Susan on the news tonight...
...Nov...
...They were...
...Apparently it makes them feel better...
...Sept...
...May 13...
...May 12...
...8. In town for conference on new film for junior high schools...
...Dec...
...Explain that simplest and least pretentious sort of notebook is preferable...
...I had never thought about it before, but food is good...
...We both realize that personal growth in a marriage is tremendously important...
...At fellowship coffee hour many congregation members express interest in idea of candid diary...
...My love for Sarah could only strengthen our marriage...
...Have some good fellowship: Charlies Parsons makes the point that while Christ was undeniably a great man, he did not know all that we do today...
...June VII...
...I've decided to use my ministry to try to combat the spread of fascism in this country...
...I think that to be candid means to be human...
...Later I can polish them...
...I will be sad to leave Chicago and all the friends I have made here...
...Dec...
...LOVE IN FOCUS: A Presbyterian Filmmaker's Odyssey Preface I do not recall when the idea to write my diary in a candid style first occurred to me...
...one could merely exist—from day to day and hour to hour—never knowing when the tanks and jackbooted soldiers would arrive...
...Nov...
...In the evening I built the first fire in the living room fireplace since last winter...
...Jan...
...One of the things that first struck me is the way the Institute's elementary school students say grace at mealtimes...
...Nov...
...I hope and pray that I do...
...Another good day at the studio...
...In some ways I think poetry is the highest means of expression...
...Sarah Bosart, a talented actress, has given me much excellent advice...
...Legislation was pending in Congress which would have cut off the funds needed to help young women keep from bringing into the world infants who could not be properly loved or cared for...
...March 27...
...We plan to take a mature approach...
...July VIII...
...A written script would get in my way...
...June 26...
...May 15...
...Idea is that each person is unique and therefore his or hersexuality is unique...
...1. I saw an ad in the paper this morning for a book entitled Adultery: Your Right to Personal Freedom in Marriage, co-authored by a medical doctor and a doctor of divinity...
...What does it mean to be candid...
...Life is beautiful, I think, but lonely...
...Bob, the seminarian who is acting as assistant director, remarked that I seem to have an extraordinary talent for thinking visually...
...Sept...
...It still has to be revised and polished but that will have to wait for later...
...Sermon: "The Sermon on the Mount...
...Sunday, Nov...
...Charlie Parsons pointed out that none of us was wearing a collar...
...March IV...
...Sunday, July 12...
...Timmy home from school with the flu today...
...Perhaps it stemmed from my familiarity with the confessional religious literature of traditional Christianity...
...A second group answers, "Right...
...Roman Catholics scare me...
...Took Sarah out for a drink to celebrate...
...Richard Breen, who has always either had the information at his fingertips or else known where I might find it...
...Sometimes I feel that no one really knows me...
...This idea cuts through centuries of superstition...
...The instructors here prefer to use the term "Gob" or "G-0-B"-for "Ground of Our Being...
...Oct...
...I prefer to think of it as the beginning of a new one...
...Sermon: "The Sermon on the Mount and the Authoritarian Personality...
...Imust admit, though, the leading actress, Sarah Bosart, has a wonderfully expressive torso...
...I prefer to dress for comfort rather than for what people might think...
...America is either going to have massive federal planning or it is going to have authoritarianism...
...An essential factor in this kind of literary venture is an unerring knowledge of the date...
...The Many Faces of Love has been well received on the junior high level...
...I honestly don't know whether I'll succeed...
...Maybe that will be too late...
...Life was not healthy in 1975...
...June 27...
...In Harlem it was all '68 and '69 Impalas, but Park Avenue was filled with late-model Cadillacs...
...March 5. Visited parish shut-ins this morning...
...Suggest marbled or spiral kind—the latter has the advantage of opening flat, so easier to write in...
...July 24...
...5. Sermon on New Year and value of resolutions...
...The year 1975 is over now but, for those of us who lived through it, the memory will never fade...
...Charlie Parsons, Timmy -even Charlotte-have no idea who I am...
...Sunday, Jan...
...4. Decide to go ahead with diary...
...The following condensation, which preserves the frank tone of the original, is used by permission of the author...
...I believe there is a little bit of Gob in every one of us...
...Read a fascinating book today-For Neruda, For Chile: An International Anthology...
...Then one group of children shouts, "Food is good...
...Jan...
...What's important to remember is not that Jesus is God, but that he was a very human man...
...September X. October XI...
...Before beginning, I would like to acknowledge the kind assistance of some of those persons who have made vital contributions to the quality of my manuscript...
...Think about the urban crisis, and about the crisis in our cities...
...Confide my fears about President Ford and the CIA to congregation members during fellowship hour...
...This ability is tremendously important...
...I wouldn't want to write a whole book in the kitchen, but it could be interesting for something shorter, such as a screenplay...
...I was interested in writing a kind of modern-day Confessions of St...
...There is no chance we'll be getting any in the next year...
...April 22...
...Augustine, but minus the superstition...
...I don't believe that Gob is just something up in the sky...
...I believe that there is a little bit of God in every one of us...
Vol. 9 • August 1976 • No. 10
