Gary Earl Ross Reading, writing, and watching films By Donna Hoke Kahwaty It’s a wonder Gary Earl Ross has time to date. The twice-married father of five children, ranging in age from nineteen to thirty-one, has been a professor of reading and writing at the University of Buffalo Educational Opportunity Center for the past thirty-two years. But he’s also an award-winning author of more than 170 published short stories, articles, scholarly papers, poems, essays, and public radio essays. A novel, Blackbird Rising, is due out this spring and, as if that weren’t enough, he is playwright in residence of Ujima Theatre Company of Buffalo. Thank goodness for movies. Ross, “a huge movie fan,” takes in up to four films a week, and, of course, the viewing is best shared. When did you know you wanted to be a writer? One rainy afternoon in April when I was about ten, my mother took my brothers and me to the library to sign up for library cards. The first book I checked out was Ray Bradbury’s R is for Rocket, and the stories were so beautifully written that I decided I wanted to be a writer. I started trying to sell my fiction at age thirteen, and I sold my first short story at eighteen. That’s years of rejection! I sold my second at twenty-seven. As Calvin Coolidge once said, nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. But more than that, writing is necessary to my survival. Monetarily, my job keeps me fed and housed, but writing satisfies an emotional need that would completely drive me crazy were it not taken care of. How about personal needs; you’ve said you do a lot of things with friends, but are there times a buddy just won’t do? I went to Paris once to present a paper and it remains my all-time favorite city, but I was there alone. I made a promise to myself that next time I went, I’d have company. Travel with a companion is fine, but I like to travel with an intimate because it heightens the experience dramatically. Do you have an “intimate” type? Female. I love women, and I don’t have age, race, or weight biases. I’ve dated older, considerably younger, and every major racial group. I suppose that makes me sound like a whore, but that’s not the case. I just like women—I like the conversation, I like the way their minds work. So my type is female. What has a woman done on a first date that really impressed you? Told me about a book she’s read, because that’s a requirement for me; I read about two books a week, and I like literate dates. Why we want to write is anybody’s guess, because—trust me—there are people who don’t read. So when someone tells me about a book she’s read and loved, it makes me think, “This is a person I can talk to.” FAST FACTS Buffalo background: Lifelong resident; grew up on the East Side; now lives in North Buffalo. Last book read: Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels. Friday night, I’m usually: At a movie, at a play, or in my living room watching a movie. Myself in three words: Curious, engaged, engaging. Favorite summer activity in Buffalo: Shakespeare in the Park. Donna Hoke Kahwaty is editor of Buffalo Spree Home. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top