From: [p m rommel] at [my-deja.com] Newsgroups: rec.arts.comics.alternative Subject: [FAQ] Desert Peach by Donna Barr Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 12:41:10 GMT Anyone Who Takes This Seriously Deserves To (mostly) by Donna Barr, messed about with by Ruth Saunders. (Who let her do it because she wouldn't have had time to finish the thing. It's simply a question of whether you want answers, or do you want me to finish pages for theDesert Peach novel?) Note: all the bits in square brackets [] are Ruth's ideas or asides that occurred to her while she was writing and/or typing this. There is a Desert Peach discussion list, you can join by going to: http://www.egroups.com/subscribe/DPeach (1) Introduction. An overview of the Desert Peach. The Desert Peach is 29 illustrated books (so far) most of which are available as collections. It is set in the Afrika Korps in 1940-1943, with side turns into the life of the main character, that ran from l900 to l990, and so is a history of most of the twentieth century. The following is a quote written by Edd Vick, one of the publishers of "The Desert Peach": Manfred Pfirsich Marie Rommel is the fictional gay younger brother of Erwin Rommel the 'Desert Fox'. He is the able commander of a German army battalion of the understanding father-figure to a gaggle of ne'er do well would - be soldiers. He is a man of integrity and peace thrust into a conflict he finds appalling." Debbie (a member of the mailing list) said: "I thought of it in terms of the midlife rebellion of a man who'd always played by the rules and whose only reward had been to see the rules clamped down harder every year. Turn the screw tight enough and something will break. Let up the pressure just a little bit and watch what isn't broken explosively decompress." I'd like to add that our Peach has two little weaknesses -- his lover, Leutnant Rosen Kavalier (real name: Melvin Gonville Ramsbottom) and he really DOES think that Prussian-style uniform makes him look lovely (and he's not far wrong -- riding breeches and boots do WONDERS for a man!) (1) (a) Did Erwin Rommel have a brother called Pfirsich? [No.] But his youngest brother, Manfred, died in infancy. One of Pfirsich's names is "Manfred." It was very simple to allow this infant brother to live, and give him a history. So all I've done is pick up and let live a human being that the universe threw away. (1) (b) He's a stereotypical gay man, isn't he? No. I know people just like him. Jon Winston Hauer, who played him in the musical, is him to a T. Jon can even ride horses, and is, for all his delicate and pretty appearance, tremendously powerful. The more I work on this book, the more I'm terrified to find I'm getting too close to the truth. The Peach learned to yodel because Erwin said he couldn't; John learned to yodel because the other actors said tenors couldn't. (1) (c) How did you come up with the idea in the first place? Originally, it was a play on the color "Desert Peach." I couldn't resist the pun. I was badly infected by the Goon Show as a callow child. But, to quote my entire bible: "It's never been a mystery why we're here on earth: The Lesser Gods need tragedy -- the Greater Gods need mirth." Too much of what happens seems like a terrible joke for it to be otherwise. (A more compressed and piquant version of this philosophy is "Shit happens.") (1) (d) Why does the story 'Home is Where' appear twice? Because I wasn't keeping a strangle-hold on Aeon that week. At least, having my own imprint, I can always get hold of my publisher now! [Ed, who was behind Aeon has retired from publishing and Donna has decided to publish the Peach herself under the imprint "A Very Fine Line." Address on request.] (Oh, ha, Edd has retired -- he'll be bringing out the ENTIRE Hader and The Colonel collection -- over 100 pages -- by the endof l999). (2) Serious Questions. (2) (a) How long is he going to avoid coming to some very unpleasant conclusions about the government he serves? Oh, until 1945, of course. Terribly busy, until then. And he was fortunate to have served under decent Generals (including one in southern Germany -- who ordered his army troops to arrest ANY SS seen persecuting minorities -- I am not making this up). AND he had both knees broken in 1943, and spent a lot of time in hospital. Actually, I just found out about his card-file. And the "undersand railroad" he was helping his brother --and his sister-in-law! -- run, down through Tunisia and into Egypt, with the help of high-ranking officers back in Germany (again, I am not making this up -- and I have my sources). That pouf act just came in SO handy! Who would ever think such a fluff-brained thing could ever do anything but comb his hair? (The Rommel women got involved in all sorts of underground business; the diamonds in "Schindler's List" belonged to Lucie Rommel.) (2) (b) Gay Nazis in WW2 - they are, aren't they? Admit it, at best it's revisionism of the worst kind. "Revisionism" is a buzz-word. One could say that revealing what was done to Native Americans in reality, as opposed to their portrayal as seen in the movies (except for those of Bill Wellman and some by John Ford -- see Fort Apache, where John Wayne is on the Apaches' side!) is "revisionism." I am working with a Mythology of World War Two Germany that was provided by the National Socialists themselves. They won the image war -- and, when it comes to the constructs of modern economics, and international policies, they won much of that, as well. And because the Americans never atoned for -- or even recognized -- their own War Crimes (such as the bombing of civilian cities) such crimes were never classified as war crimes. To this day, the American government uses the bombing of civilian centers as policy. But since clarification and atonement usually takes over 100 years, we've still got a ways to go (the Germans were very fortunate to be forced to atonement -- at least for crimes such as the allies hadn't committed -- they are now the most moral nation on the planet!) One can see the attitude of the Americans in the bombing in Serbia; because this country has always sat safely behind its moat of two oceans, it feels it can attack other countries with impunity and safety. It even sneers at the Europeans for "not being able to clean up their own mess" -- while sitting over here in fat happy safety, never having to worry about repercussions right on the other side of its own borders. Even in WWII, this country (America) was never under direct threat -- all the most sea-worthy enemy could manage was one pinpoint military strike on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And it's not "Gay Nazis." It's a WWII German officer, who is homosexual. Don't think in genres and sound bytes if you're going to read the Peach; you'll only confuse yourself. Get that mind cracked open, and do everything you can to stop thinking in boxes. Remember, both fascists and media wonks believe that it's easier to handle people in a BUNCH. Debbie said: "Goodness, do they think he was the only one? Anybody can survive anywhere, with preparation, sacrifice and luck. The question is, is it worth the price?" (2) (c) All German soldiers were Nazis, weren't they? [No, far from it. Technically a Nazi is a member of the NSDAP and to find out if a soldier was a Nazi you'd have to turn out his pockets and find his party card.] That's Ruth's answer, but I left it in because it was cute. And again, you need to define your question. Define "Nazi." Depending upon whether you see it as a paperwork membership, an attitude, or a style of clothing, I will have to tailor the answer. The uniform you think of as "Nazi" was just one more thing the Nazis stole, along with the swastika, and some very good folk songs (to name a few!). The only people who could help the persecuted in World War Two in Germany were high-ranking Nazis, because only they had the power to do any good. Debbie said: "The genius of Nazi propaganda was that it threw out enough different images that anyone who just looked at it superficially could find something they really liked and define the party that way. Few people had long-term contact with the party heads, and few people sat down and worked their way through the papers. Have you read the entire Republican Party Platform?" (3) Questions from people who have read the comic, in no order ofimportance. (3) (a) How and when did he get that tattoo on his backside? He hasn't told me yet. The way he blushes each time I ask, I doubt he ever will. I suspect he did it to please Rosen, in the first moments of infatuation -- or as an emotional bribe. Either way, he's not proud of it. Rosen has a way of keeping everyone around him either disgusted or humbled, depending on what he's managed to do to them. (3) (b) Who the hell is this Der Rosen Kavalier person and why does Pfirsich put up with him for more than thirty seconds? And what does Rosen see in Pfirsich? Rosen is one of the remainder children of WWI, and as such, if you believe in nurture versus nature, can't help himself. He has the skin of a prince, with the heart of a toad. I can't stand him myself. Lord knows, I've attempted to make Pfirsich see the light about this wretched creature, but he just rolls those big blue eyes and sighs, "Love is blind - and in my case it must have been deaf." If your love-life is nice and pleasant and easily explained, so that you can't sympathize with or understand this relationship, then I envy you. But then, Rosen was there with Pfirsich when he died. So we can all change. When being interviewed by a rather political lesbian in San Diego, it was quite obvious she was very hostile toward the entire concept of the Peach-- until I described Rosen. Her mouth fell open, all the hostility went out of her eyes, and she gasped, "That's my last girl friend! She was just like that!" We wuz good friends after that. Haven't we all had a date with somebody like Rosen? [I've had several, I nearly married one of them.] Debbie said: "STRENGTH! Both Rosen's own strength and the strengthening effect of having one person who absolutely adores you and encourages you when the rest of the world wants to put you down." Also "My 15 year relationship can be explained in three words: us vs. them. I imagine there's an element of that here." (3) (c) Why doesn't Erwin listen to Pfirsich? [He's just like that.] My answer: NOBODY listens to their brother! Did you ever notice that Erwin is the only person with whom Pfirsich is consistently impatient and short-tempered? (3) (d) Isn't this all heading for the most horrendous misery anddisaster? [Yes. How Germanic, take a line through Wagner.] Of course. Where is your life going? You're going to be dead at the end of it -- and by that time, you may be happy to see it (knock wood). Let's just say that Pfirsich and his generation seemed to have fallen under the Chinese Curse: "May you live in interesting times." And there must have been sunspots when whey were born -- the whole world went crazy! Doesn't seem to be any better of late, either. (3) (e) The Peach speaks English and French - where did he learn them? School and summer travel in those countries, when he was younger. (3) (f) Do Pfirsich and Rosen ever get married? Not legally. But the way people's needs for commitment are changing, it could be that "marriage" as practiced by certain religions will simply be left behind, and ignored. The people who insist on a narrow definition of "marriage" are, oddly enough, the very people who are so afraid it will be "destroyed" -- and yet the very narrowness they insist upon is what is destroying it. Unless it keeps up with the needs of real people, it will simply fade, on its own. They will find other legal methods to define commitment, and marriage will become ananachronism. Debbie said: "There will always be marriage, the name will just change again. Notice how, by eliminating the phrase "common-law marriage" from the vocabulary, people made it look like cohabiting came about in the '60s instead of being older than English common law? There's a scene in my head of Pfirsich running into his first fiancee years after the war and her asking "Did you ever get married?" He squirms for a minute and says, "Yes, but it's only common-law. There are some legal complications that simply Will Not go away!"; and enough time has passed for her to find that funny." (3) (g) Did Lucy ever find out, at the end of the war or after? And where was Pfirsich storing his stuff and using as a home address thiswhole time? Oh, he left it with the family and friends; he didn't live completely in his own little world. And Lucie did find out, quite early on -- Erwin could hide NOTHING from her! But she of course kept her mouth shut, and let live and let live. (3) (h) What happened to Lt. Matheson (#10)? Did he get back to hisunit? He must have. I shall have to go read the unit diary. (He's lucky he didn't get shot permanently! That was the original intention, but I had a fit of Nice Guy that day). (3) (i) I've read "Triangle Trade" (#15) 20 times and I still don't understand the plot - can I have footnotes? Who was doing the smuggling Rosen or von Drachenberg? Or am I just thick? (Love Rosen's jealous rage, by the way.) [You're thick.] RUTH! [Sorry, it just slipped out...] No, it was the two new officers who were smuggling. Ain't Rosen rotten? I can't stand the guy. Actually, I'm starting to like him, now. AND Leutnant Winzig! I REALLY like him, especially in "Miki," Desert Peach #26, where he is Hauptmann Winzig. Such honest hard-headedness is amazing! (3) (j) Why is Rosen so jealous of von Drachenberg when Pfirsich sleeping with Babette didn't bother him a bit? Because von Drachenberg is a GUY! And Rosen's afraid it MIGHT BE SERIOUS! Rosen obviously has a really lousy attitude toward women -- and everybody else. (3) (k) Rosen just seeing Pfirsich and falling madly in love despite being apparently straight, it's a bit unlikely isn't it? [Not at all. I have a friend, SW, who was a very serious Jehovah's Witness and married with two young children when I first met him. He was sent by our mutual employer to do a training course in Basingstoke. In the main street of this very dull town he stopped to light a cigarette and having done so he looked up. There he saw the most perfect person he had ever seen - who happened to be a man, and who shared his fascination. At the end of the training course S was on the phone, in tears, to his new lover swearing eternal faithfulness. He left his wife and sons for "R" and has so far never regretted it, not even when the Jehovah's Witnesses excommunicated him. He swears he could no more have stopped this than made the Thames flow uphill, and right and wrong just didn't enter into it.] Hey, I couldn't have said it any better than Ruth did. Anybody who asks questions like this -- in disbelief -- have been living sheltered lives. Have you given S a copy of #20, Ruth? Or would it be too painful, atthis point? (3) (l) Do we ever find out more about Pfirsich's first fiancee? Yes. There was this perfectly dreadful engagement party... I'm using it in the Peach novel, "Bread and Swans." Yes, two agents have asked for it... While we're at it, do check out my website -- one of those agents, Robert Drake, was found beaten almost to death in his Sligo, Ireland, apartment, due to his sexual orientation. He's home now, and has opened his eyes, but he and Scott still have horrendous medical bills. Go look at