Monday, Oct. 9, 2017 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
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IU freshman Naomi Showalter closes her eyes as a poem is read at the Las Vegas vigil Sunday. Church leaders, members of Moms Demand Action, and a representative from College Democrats spoke at the vigil.
Dozens gathered on the steps of the Bloomington Courthouse to remember lives lost in Las Vegas. T
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Ann Edmonds holds a sign at the Las Vegas vigil at the courthouse Sunday. The signs were distributed by Moms Demand Action, a group advocating stricter gun laws.
By Caroline Anders | anders6@umail.iu.edu | @andersGOA
he opening notes of “Hallelujah” rang out over the crowd. Dozens gathered on the steps of the Bloomington Courthouse on a rainy Sunday night to remember the 58 lives lost Oct. 1 when gunfire rang out in Las Vegas, rattling the air with hate as powerful as the love that echoed between the rain-soaked mourners on the
courthouse steps. “All I’ve ever learned from love was how to shoot somebody who outdrew you,” the Ladies First a cappella group sang. Mothers clutched their children’s hands. “Someone chose to terrorize a music festival. This is kind of our SEE VEGAS, PAGE 6
IU alum writes Lou Reed biography Freshman WOMEN’S GOLF
By Emily Abshire
eabshire@indiana.edu | @emily_abs
If ever there was a human personification of rock ’n’ roll, it would have been Lou Reed. The Velvet Underground’s frontman and songwriter was never without a leather jacket and usually dressed in all-black to match. He wore dark sunglasses and a grimace. He spoke low and with an identifiable New York City accent. In the years since Reed’s death in Oct. 2013, IU alumnus Anthony DeCurtis has been working to analyze and break apart this persona of Reed through his forthcoming biography “Lou Reed: A Life,” set to debut Oct. 10. “I would have never have done it while he was alive,” DeCurtis said. “He would have felt betrayed, in a certain way. But once he was dead, I felt that he deserved it.” Other biographies of Reed exist but have been built on the thesis that Reed was a monster. “I think people who would think of him as a real tough-hearted, drug-addicted, savaged New York beast would be surprised how genuinely pleasant he was to be around,” IU rock history professor Glenn Gass said. Gass makes a cameo halfway through the book with the mention of Reed’s September 1987 visit to Bloomington and Gass’ history of rock ’n’ roll class. Reed was visiting Heartland rocker John Mellencamp before the charity music festival Farm Aid. At a time of great popularity and fame for both musicians, the duo did an unannounced gig at the intimate Bluebird Nightclub to practice their festival sets. “It was a ridiculous night,” Gass said. “It was just fantastic. It was the best Bloomington night I ever experienced.” After the show, he wrote his phone number on a matchbook for Reed, who didn’t believe Gass had a history of rock ’n’ roll class. “I knew that was the last I’d ever hear from him,” Gass said. Reed called the next morning.
golfer breaks IU record By Stefan Krajisnik stefkraj@indiana.edu | @skrajisnik3
his career. They ran in the same circles, both living in New York City and being involved in the music scene. DeCurtis said he sometimes ran into him on the street or at parties. Reed felt DeCurtis saw him the way he saw himself, Reed once told him. “People always say to me, ‘Why don’t you get along with critics?” Reed said in 2012 at the University of Pennsylvania, where DeCurtis teaches creative writing. “I tell them, ‘I get along fine with Anthony DeCurtis.’ Shuts them right up.” Although Reed would never admit it, DeCurtis said Reed was impressed by DeCurtis’ Ph.D., which he earned in American literature at IU in 1980. Reed, an English major, saw himself as a literary guy, DeCurtis said. He liked the attention
Freshman Mary Parsons had all the right momentum heading into the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky, this past weekend. In her first collegiate tournament, the Ptarmigan Ram Classic, Parsons finished tied for 39th. She followed that with a 20th-place finish at the Couer d’Alene Resort Invitational, where she found herself atop the Hoosier leaderboard. That all led to a record-breaking performance this past weekend at her third tournament — the Bettie Lou Evans Invitational. Parsons shot a 6-under 66 in the final round of play, breaking the IU women’s golf record for lowest score in a round. “I just tried to play smart golf and didn’t try to force any shots like I had tried in the morning,” Parsons said. “Everything just fell into place. That’s just how I went about it, just tried to play relaxed golf out on the course and everything worked.” Parsons started day two with a 7-over 79 in the second round before being able to rebound and posting her record-breaking score in round three. Her three-round score of 2-over 218 was enough to put her tied for eighth overall, giving her the first topten individual finish of the season for the Hoosiers. “The first round, I wasn’t feeling the greatest,” Parsons said. “I probably slept four hours the night before because I’m coming down with a cold. That round was rough. I wasn’t hitting it the greatest." IU Coach Clint Wallman said he credits much of Parsons’ success this
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COURTESY PHOTO
In Sept. 1987, songwriter Lou Reed, frontman for the Velvet Underground, visited Professor Glenn Gass' history of rock 'n' roll class. Reed was visiting Heartland rocker John Mellencamp before the charity music festival Farm Aid. Mellencamp talked Reed into visiting Gass' class, where he answered questions from students. Now 30 years later, IU alumnus Anthony DeCurtis will release the biography "Lou Reed: A Life" on Oct. 10. DeCurtis' depiction of Reed's life is more three-dimensional than other biographies of him have depicted, he said.
“Are they rude?” he asked of the students. “I don’t want to talk,” he said, just wanting to take questions from students. “I could stop in for 10 or 15 minutes,” he decided. “He was very paranoid about it,” Gass said. “He said he had never done anything like this before. Just was nervous, visibly shaking all the way to the classroom. He was afraid he was going to walk in and people were just going to stare at him.” The class exploded in screams, claps and whistles when he entered. He ended up staying the entirety of the class. “It was kind of like a dream come true when you’re a rock history teacher, to have Lou Reed come in and spend an hour and a half,” Gass said. Few people have seen the vul-
“It was kind of like a dream come true when you’re a rock history teacher, to have Lou Reed come in and spend an hour and a half.” Glenn Gass, IU rock history professor
nerable and insecure Reed who feared college students. Underneath his rock ’n’ roll persona was a lot of fear, DeCurtis said. This three-dimensional presentation of Reed in the biography sets DeCurtis’ biography apart from others done about Reed, he said. DeCurtis interviewed Reed’s childhood friends, ex-wives and band members, but DeCurtis, a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine, writing there for more than 30 years, also had a relationship with Reed throughout