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Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Books "It's like 'A Common Cryography'"

Posted by Alison Hallett on Wed, Feb 3, 2010 at 2:26 PM

...cracked Kevin Sampsell's longtime girlfriend, Barb, at Kevin's reading last night—right after Kevin proposed. After a reading from his new book A Common Pornography that included a slide show of family photos, Kevin pulled Barb onstage to pop the question. (She said yes.) It was romagical: The writer, publisher, and Powell's employee tearily proposing in front of a supportive hometown crowd of friends and fans, who then packed the bar across the street to celebrate the good news.

Kevin has done more to promote and foster Portland's literary culture than anyone else I can think of; Barb is a writer and comedian, and one of the organizers of Back Fence, PDX. They met, according to Kevin, when Barb contacted Kevin after reading a story he had up on the McSweeney's website—fittingly, a story from a chapbook that's also titled A Common Pornography. As far as public proposals go, it doesn't get much better than this one. (Kevin, nice work on noting that Barb was wearing the "boob-y dress" you like so much immediately before you proposed. Every little girl's dream!)

I said it last night, but: Congratulations, guys!

 

Comments (4) RSS

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1
Good on him. And her. Congratulations, guys!
Posted by Matt Davis on February 3, 2010 at 2:41 PM · Report
2
I found the proposal crisp and well paced. As the various narrative cul-de-sacs gradually built to their satisfying conclusion, I couldn't help but feel the voice of a bold new player in the marriage-asking game.
Posted by atomic on February 3, 2010 at 2:55 PM · Report
3
That is so adorable! Congratulations!
Posted by Miranda on February 3, 2010 at 2:57 PM · Report
4
I MISSED THIS BECAUSE OF STUPID LOST.

GAH.
Posted by kiala on February 3, 2010 at 5:32 PM · Report

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