Word: champlain
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Just inside the Flynn Theater in Burlington, Vermont, Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield stand aside as twentysomethings stream by to find seats at a rare hometown concert by the rock band Phish--a treat the ice-cream magnates have sponsored to raise money to clean up nearby Lake Champlain. A girl recognizes Ben. "Could I, like, make a suggestion?" she asks. "It'd be really great if you could make a marshmallow for us vegetarians...
This time Aaron Israel got the call, but by game's end he needn't have bothered with such gestures; many of the home folks already had trickled out of Gutterson Fieldhouse like the melting snow, dirty in hits retreat down the hill from the arena towards Lake Champlain, after another two-goal Harvard victory...
This gloomy and roughly powerful novel is not a politically correct sermon on cultural diversity. There are no heroes of tolerance here, native or otherwise, although Vollmann grudgingly admires Samuel de Champlain, the stodgy soldier who founded Quebec. French lay explorers craved beaver pelts. The priestly black gowns wore hair shirts and spiked girdles in self- mortification, and lusted to harvest souls. They strove to break down native sexual and religious customs, but, as Vollmann tells it, were more tolerant of the Indians' prolonged and joyous ritual torture of captured enemies. Tribes sold their souls (literally) as dearly as possible...
...audience is given insight into the complexity of Champlain's inner character through the soliloquies of the supporting characters. Stu Noonan, played by Alan Krischer, is Barry's operator. He talks about the private transformation of Champlain from man to radio personality. The assistant producer, Linda MacArthur, played by Sandra Vinton, tells us about her nights with Champlain, the confusion she perceives within him. The speeches of these characters are not high points of the production...
...particularly noteworthy among the callers is Tom Chick as Kent, the teen-age "party-er" who represents our future. Chick is dynamic both in silhouette, as a caller, and in the studio, when he visits Champlain. The humorous yet realistic dialogue between Chick and Brazell during the visit is a strong scene in the show...