Stewart Francke Takes the 'Proust Questionnaire'

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Stewart Francke Takes the 'Proust Questionnaire'

by Robert E. Martin

A regular feature of the magazine 'Vanity Fair' is a feature entitled 'The

Proust Questionnaire', whereby famous celebrities are asked a series of

questions that cover key moments, issues, and forces in our lives. We

thought it would be fun to place a more localized spin on this format and

ask Stewart Francke about those metaphysical questions we are all prone to

contemplate at 3:00 AM on a sleepless night.

What is your favorite occupation?
Helping people (including myself) realize their own promise to themselves, and the only occupational or vocational way I know how to do this is by making music that isn't just entertainment but a lifeline of sorts. To be accurate--making music and writing songs. Ain't too deep on that one.

What or who is the greatest love of your life?
My wife, my kids, my music and Point Lookout, Michigan. And my extended family - sisters, band, my Frank Capra nutbag view of life.

When and where were you happiest?
I was VERY happy playing clubs 5 nights a week in my 20s; I viewed it as a musical and social apprenticeship. But there are gradations of happiness.
I now believe that happiness is a series of intermittent moments and I've been much happier, overall, since I got married and started making records that searched for a theme of life. Kids have made me happier and more pissed off at the same time. Ask anybody--they'll do that!

What is your greatest regret?

I ain't much on regrets.  If anything, it's probably like everyone--not

trusting my own instincts earlier.  I wouldn't have had to bend 441

transmission hoses an hour at Steering Gear for a year if I would've just

gone out and played--in bars, wherever.  I knew I was going to be a

musician and I should've expedited that notion.  But everything's for a

reason, feeding into your greater purpose.

What historical figure do you most identify with?

You mentioned earlier that I was akin to Bob Seger - well loved in Michigan

but not capable or not interested in busting out, so it would have to be

someone who has certainly had his share of struggles.  Yet I feel, through

my love of my family, the people I've touched with my music and getting by

my illness, I have triumphed.  The old Hemingway line - "Man can be

destroyed but never defeated."

So I'd have to say somebody who overcame great odds to make a little

something of himself...probably someone like John Cheever, who decided he

was going to be a writer come hell or high water and wrote up to his

AMBITION as much as his God-given gifts.  I relate to that because until

recently I thought I had more ambition than talent.  There cannot be enough

said for tenacity, can there?  I identify quite closely with anyone who

hasn't had it handed to him or her.

Which living person do you most admire?

My father.

What is your greatest extravagance?

My greatest indulgence you mean?  Oh man at this stage I get great pleasure

and great guilt from a long summertime drive in Northeast Michigan or a new

guitar.  I'm a guitar junkie.  Reading for extended periods, talking at

Nellos, this clean, well lighted place near my house until 3 AM.

What is your favorite journey?

Up 23 to Alabaster road, sneak into the Alabaster works past the Alabaster

Bible church, its porch and sills beautifully dusted with the white mist of

Gypsum, and watch these enormous swaying trundles bring the gypsum in from

the cold clear blue water of Lake Huron.  Sounds pretty dull? It's

breathtaking to me. I'll also take a drive out I-80 to Manhattan any time.

I also loved driving through the Belgian Forests; you can almost hear the

tanks still rumbling.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Patience, by a long shot.  What are you waiting for?

What is your current state of mind?

It's actually a state of mind without prejudice and a balance between

profound worry and surrender. Pretty damn good, overall. I've had some more

medical trouble lately, despite an excellent 2 year biopsy report, that

makes one obsess on the ramifications of life and death.  That's VERY

fatiguing and depressing.

The illusion of immortality is a wonderfully useful piece of mythology.

And when it goes, it goes for everyone you know and love...look how fragile

it all is; look how finite life is; look how close to death our elders are;

look how much potential danger our kids are in.  Before the illusion of

immortality is shattered, we walk right through these prospective events,

eyes wide open.  Then, boom...all it takes is one event, one inevitable

event if you live a certain number of years.  So my current state of mind

is appropriately skeptical and still fully in love with life and the

wonders of the world and beyond.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

The amount of time I spend with doctors.  No, really, here is the problem

with life -if you are not really there, fully THERE and truly ourselves,

truly at (or IN) the present moment, we miss everything, don't we? If

presented with a moment of potential great beauty or knowing and we are

preoccupied  (and preoccupation is our national pastime) then the moment

truly doesn't happen.  If my child smiles and speaks to me and I'm thinking

of some bullshit gone by or bullshit to come, the moment literally doesn't

happen.  THAT'S the challenge.  My level of my immediate "presents" is what

I would change if I could.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Great magnanimity and true love given to every human regardless of class or

race or position in society. Hah! I don't really know.   I'm just sluggin'

it out like every other monkey. Maybe others would disagree but since

cancer I'm able to give love quite freely and quite physically and quite

often.  That and my ever-changing hair color.

What do you most value in your friends?

Loyalty, compassion, the ability to listen and the ability to allow me to

make mistakes.  'Cuz I give everything that I described right back to 'em.

And I've got some friends that are saintly; they might not know it but they

kept a man alive.

Who is your favorite hero of fiction?

Santiago from "Old Man & The Sea" because he knows all he's about to

endure and still endures it--for principle, for pride, to never be

destroyed, Defeated, yes, but not destroyed.  Much like Christ, enduring

all he KNOWS he's going to endure for the highest of purpose--to save

mankind from the world's horrific inequities. That's Christ, not Santiago;

he's just trying to prove he's worthy of this great thing of nature...to

prove he's worthy; that's it, isn't it?.  By NO means am I comparing myself

to Santiago but I knew what I was going to go through with my bone marrow

transplant and I knew there was a pretty fair chance I could perish, but I

didn't want my children thinking he quit or went down without a fight.  And

Santiago used everything he knew from memory--his love of DiMaggio, when

the sharks would come, recollections of women--to get him through his hell.

What is it that you most dislike?

People that operate on foregone conclusions...closed minds.  I dislike

disliking stuff; that's how much of an idealist I aspire to.  But, being

very much a flawed human, I dislike manipulative advertising, TV culture,

the fact that politicians can't answer questions, a million things just

like everybody.

How would you like to die?

Shot by a jealous husband at 102.

What is your motto?

As for politics, "Separation is the illusion."

As far as personal appearances or live shows, "Levity and brevity,"

although you wouldn't know that from this interview.  And I love that

Shakespeare line that there is "Providence in the fall of a sparrow"-all

things are seen, all things carry weight, all things count. Nature is

dominant to man's whim. And I'd include that last line from Abbey

Road--"The love you take is equal to the love you make."

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