There you have one clue why readers respond so avidly to Wallace Stegner, who will be 83 next week: They love the sense that his stories really happened, that they result from more than idle tale-spinning. 'Actually there's a lot of personal experience in that, as there is in anything I write, because I believe in found objects.' 'Three people,' he continued, 'have said to me today, 'Isn't it nice that your wife is not in braces?' ' The crowd laughed harder. Does 'Crossing to Safety' - about the friendship between two couples, in one of which the wife has polio - have autobiographical elements? It was a lot like being in church.Īfterward, he took questions. Others studied their hands, or closed their eyes and tilted slightly forward, or softly fidgeted.

One women clutched his 'Collected Stories,' moving a finger under the words as she heard them.

Stegner's speaking voice is clear and strong, lacking affectation of any sort, and the audience listened contentedly. At least, that was true for the dozens who were upset about not getting a seat - not to mention the overflow crowd of 600 fortunate souls who did. There seems to be a particular bond between this writer, whose best books are increasingly described as major works of American literature, and Washingtonians. Maybe since Wallace Stegner was last here. Since when had a mere writer been so popular in this town? When Wallace Stegner spoke at the National Gallery of Art a couple of weeks ago, 150 people guessed wrong. If you're going to an event that's free but has limited seating, some calculations involving arrival time are necessary.

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