Jim Harrison, a man who enjoyed a meal, would have been a happy guest at the Patagonia Creative Arts Association’s fundraiser last Saturday night where guests were served tacos with all the add-ons, as well as alcohol, another Harrison indulgence. Approximately 70 people showed up to eat and to watch a Hollywood extravaganza based on Harrison’s novella, Legends of the Fall.
Guests sat at tables inventively decorated with American Spirit cigarettes and disposable lighters, a clever and fitting tribute to the man and his vices. There were also scattered pages cut from a paperback edition of ‘Legends of the Fall’ along with lots of pencils, another touch Harrison would have appreciated, since he wrote everything longhand. He wrote more than 25 published books of fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
Thanks to a grant and the generosity of Michael Schwartz, who donated the last funds needed to complete the heating system, the theater was warm.
As diners enjoyed desert, Molly Phinny, who created and helps sustain the art center, spoke about Jim Harrison’s “raunchy side,” his humanity, and his wife, Linda, whom everyone admired for her steadfastness, her cooking, and her graciousness. Anita Clovesko-Wharton stood up to tell the room that Linda Harrison had once told her the reason she and Jim remained married was that neither was willing to admit they’d made a mistake.
And then came the movie. Made in 1994, the story is a western saga. The characters are complex. The themes of love, revenge, redemption, madness, and war keep piling up. It’s violent, passionate, historic, and begins and ends with a grizzly bear attack. Along with that symbolism, it was impossible not to notice the close resemblance between Anthony Hopkins, the film’s aging father, and Jim Harrison, the story’s aging writer.
How could this two-hour film have come from an 84-page novella and be so powerful? According to critics, this is a film as good, or better than, the book. It certainly felt like an emotional rollercoaster ride to watch it close up on the big screen in the warm Tin Shed Theater.
Patagonians are proud to claim Jim Harrison as a winter resident here. He was a colorful character who loved to hunt, cook, and have a few drinks at the Wagon Wheel. He wrote many poems about this local landscape. He died last winter, leaving behind his own legend.