.Book By Book: Anne Lamott

I read Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird right after graduating from college, which changed my views on writing and life in general. This was a very special treat to ask the great novelist and nonfiction writer my usual set of questions to Marinate on …

What do you do? I’m the writer of 20 books, a mother and grandmother, a progressive and now a pickleball player. I taught Sunday school at St. Andrew Presbyterian Church in Marin City for 30 years as well.

Where do you live? In Fairfax.

How long have you lived in Marin? My entire life. Grew up in Tiburon in the ’50s and ’60s when it was still a railroad town.

Where can we find you when you’re not at work? St. Andrew, or the McGinnis Park pickleball courts, or hiking at Deer Park, or on the couch.

If you had to convince someone how awesome Marin was, where would you take them? Samuel P. Taylor Park, the beach at San Quentin or Book Passage.

What’s one thing Marin is missing? More middle-class people and people of color.

What’s one bit of advice you’d share with your fellow Marinites? Turn off cable news and get outside. Plug into one of the food pantries or soup kitchens [and] join a community of people who are mentoring or helping the underserved.

If you could ask anyone to join you at dinner, whom would you invite? My darling Molly Ivins.

What’s some advice you wish you knew 20 years ago? That what your butt looks like is 197th on the list of what is important here on Earth. That if you want to have loving feelings, do loving things.

What’s something that 20 years from now will seem cringeworthy? Thick, dark, microbladed eyebrows.

Big question. What’s one thing you’d do to change the world? Work tirelessly to save democracy and women’s rights in November. Register people to vote, address endless postcards to encourage outcomes in swing congressional districts and adopt a swing state.

Keep up with Annie at @annelamott on Instagram.

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Nish Nadaraja was on the founding team at Yelp, serves on the San Anselmo Arts Commission and attempts to play pickleball at Fairfax’s Cañon Club—but has yet to play with Annie.