Gregory Lewis

The Enchantment


Posted: Saturday, October 11, 2008

by
PopGnosis

When I was a young boy my mother took my brothers and I to a wilderness refuge in southern California called Neil Park. There were hills and a small rushing brook. There were jackrabbits and great horned owls that swooped upon us as we rode, shrieking, in the back of the maroon colored VW microbus, rear hatch open.

I captured what looked like a baby fish in the stream, and put it in a paper cup. I was somehow able to keep the creature alive without spilling too much water. Arriving home hours later I poured its contents into a jar.

Staring at the one-inch creature through the transparency of its new glass home, my eyes widened in horrible recognition, and a chill went through my spine. This was not a fish at all, but some species of insect larva.
 
This lesson of mis-identity has stayed with me throughout my life.

Imagine finding someone, identifying her as your soul mate, and taking her home. One day, months later, perhaps years, the hair on your neck rises at the sickly realization she isn't just a changed person, but an insect in larval form you have already displaced into your own glass-lined domicile.

Freelance journalist, story teller, blogger, sculpture artist, perennial student of human nature and beach bum Gregory G. Lewis was a regular east coast correspondent better known for his arts & entertainment contributions, especially On the Marquee, a nuanced review of the region's outstanding art, music and drama.

His journalistic assignments took him to dinners with dignitaries: to the 2006 Massachusetts Democratic Convention where he first met Governor Deval Patrick, US Senator John Kerry and Kitty Dukakis; then on to the Washington, D.C. offices of Congressmen John Olver, John Conyers, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry. Gregory enjoyed backstage interviews with Scottish folk legend Dougie MacLean and The Wailin' Jenny's, rock & rollers Erin McKeown, The Mammals, and bluesman Chris Smither. He’s held personal audience with mysterious Tuvan throat singers and Tibetan Gyuto Monks.

Gregory lives in the exotic sub-tropics of south Florida.
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