What They Said, Origins
The first time I remember ever writing down what somebody said, more or less, I wrote the words of my grammar school babysitter Eva Balco. I loved Eva Balco, and talked to her on the telephone every single day. Her husband Jake worked at the Farrell Birmingham plant in our town of Ansonia, Connecticut. He was a big silent man. They didn't have children and so Eva and I became relatives. I asked her a million questions about Jake.
Eva Balco
Round babysitter Eva Balco woman of infinite patience she would be all characters in the plays I would write often based on neighbors she had a tiny family husband named Jake he was big too we talked about Jake a lot. One day I asked her what Jake was really like who was Jake when they met when they married who was Jake now Jake is Elvis Presley said Eva Balco and then she laughed so I laughed too. One day, she said, you'll know what I mean. And even though I didn't understand not really way before my own Elvis Presleys I had a classic black and white notebook I wrote it down Eva Balco's husband Jake is Elvis Presley because I knew one day I'd understand.