From there, things really rook off, The media began to cover him regularly. He was photogenic, charming, and passionate about his work, and he gave terrific interviews. His programs became nationally known. Hollywood adapted him as a cause, and he was smart enough to know how to make the most of that. Money poured in. He purchased the (buildings that housed Fresh Start and Pass/Go, increased his full–tune staff, began a volunteer training program, and developed a comprehensive informational program on the roots of homelessness, which he made available to organisations working with the homeless in other cities. He held several high–profile fund–raisers that brought in national celebrities to mingle with the locals, and with the ensuing contributions established a foundation to provide seed money for programs similar to his own.
He also wrote a second book, this one mare controversial than the first, but more critically acclaimed. The title was 1"7X Spiritual Child. It was something, of a surprise to everyone, because it
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did not deal with the homeless, but with the spiritual growth of children. It argued rather forcibly that children were possessed of an innate intelligence that allowed them to comprehend the lessons of spirituality, and that adults would do better if they were to spend less time trying to impose their personal religious and secular views and more time encouraging children to explore their own. It was a controversial position but Simon Lawrence was adept at advancing an argument without seeming argumentative, and he pretty much carried the day.
By now he was being referred to regularly as the Wizard of Oz. a name that had been coined early on by People magazine when is ran a fluff piece on the miracles he had performed in getting Fresh Start up and running. Wren knew Simon Lawrence wasn't overly fond of the tag, but he also knew the Wiz understood the value of advertising, and a catchy name didn't hurt when it came to raising dollars. He lived in the Emerald City, after all, so he couldn't very well complain if the media decided to label him the Wizard of Oz. Or the Wiz, more usually, for these days everyone seemed to think they were on a first–name basis with him. Simon Lawrence was hot stuff, which made him news, which made Andrew siren's purpose in taming to see him all the more intriguing.
An accomplishment; Simon said softly, repeating Wren's words. He shook his head. Andrew, I'm like the Dutch boy with his finger in the hole in the dike and the sea rising on the other side. Let me give you same statistics to think about. Use them or not when you write your next story, I don't care. But remember them.
'There are two hundred beds in this facility. With the new building, we should be able to double that. That will give us four hundred. Four hundred to service harmless women and children. There are twelve hundred school–age homeless children, Andrew. That's children, not women. Twenty–four percent of all our homeless are under the age of eighteen. And that number is growing every day.
`Ours is a specific focus. We provide help to homeless women and children. Eighty percent of those women and children are homeless because of domestic violence. The problem of domestic violence is growing worldwide, but especially here, in the United States. The statistics regarding children who die violently are all out of proportion with the rest of the world. An American child is five times mare likely to be killed before the age of eighteen than a child living in another industrialized nation. The rate of gun deaths and suicides among our children is more than twice that o$ other countries. We like to think of ourselves as progressive and enlightened, but you have to wonder. Homelessness is an alternative to dying, but not an especially attractive one. So it is difficult far me to dwell on accomplishments when the problem remains so acute.'
Wren nodded. 'I've seen the statistics'
'Good. Then let me give you an overview of our response as a nation to the problem of being homeless: Simon Lawrence leaned back again in his chair. `In a time in which the homeless problem is growing by leaps and bounds worldwide- due, to varying extents, to increases in the population, job elimination, technological advances, disintegration of the family structure, violence, and the rising cult of housing--our response state by star? and city by city has been an a11-out effort to look the other way. Or, as an alternative, to try to relocate the problem to some other part of the country. "We are engaged in a nationwide effort to crack down on the homeless b}^ passing new ordinances designed to move these people to where we cant see them. Stop them from panhandling, chat let them sleep in our parks and public places, conduct police sweeps to round them up, and get them the hell out of town that's our solution. Is them a concerted effort to get at the root problems of homelessness, to find ways to rehabilitate and reform, to address the differences between types of homelessness so that those who need one kind of treatment versus another can get it? How many tax dollars are being spent to build shelters and provide showers and hot meals? What efforts are being made to explore the ways in which domestic violence contributes to the problem, especially where women and children are concerned?
He folded his arms across his chest. `We have thousands and thousands of people living homeless on the streets of our cities at the same time that we have men and women earning millions of dollars a year running companies that make products whose continued usage will ruin our health, our environment, and our values. The irony is incredible. It's obscene.'
Wren nodded. `But you can't change that, Simon, The problem is too indigenous to who we are, too much a part of how we live our lives'
`Tell me about it. I feel like Dan Quixote, tilting at windmills'
Simon shrugged. `It's obviously hopeless, isn't it? But you know something, Andrew? I refuse to give up. I really do. It doesn't matter to me if I fail. It matters to me if I don't try: He thought about it a moment. `Too bad I'm not really the Wizard of Oz. If I were, I could just step behind the old curtain and pull a lever and change everything–just like that.'
Wren chuckled. `No, you couldn't. The Wizard of Oz was a humbug, remember?'
Simon Lawrence laughed with him. `Unfortunately, I do. I think about it every time someone refers to me as the Wiz. Do me a favour, Andrew. Please refrain from using that hideous appellation in whatever article you end up writing, Call me Toto or something; maybe it will catch an.'
There was a soft knock, the door opened, and Stefanie Winslow walked in carrying the lattes Simon had sent her to purchase from the coffee shop at Elliott Bay Book Company. Both men stared to rise, bur she motioned them back into their seats. 'Stay where you are, gentlemen, you probably need all your energy for the Interview. I'll just set these an the desk and be on my way.'
She gave Wren a dazzling smile, and he wished instantly that he was younger and cooler and even then he would probably need to be a cross between Harrison Ford and Bill Gates to have a chance with this woman. Stefanie Winslow was beautiful, but she was exotic as well, a combination that made her unforgettahle. She was tall and slim with jet–black hair that curled down to her shoulders, cut `back from her face and ears in a sweep so that it shimmered like satin in sunlight, Her skin was a strange smoky colour, suggesting that she was of mixed ancestry, the product of more than one culture, more than one people. Startling emerald eyes dominated an oval face with tiny, perfect features. She moved in a graceful, willowy way that accentuated her long limbs and neck and stunning shape. She seemed oblivious to how she looked and comfortable within herself, radiating a relaxed confidence that had both an infectious and unsettling effect on the people around her. Andrew Wren would have made the journey to Seattle just to see her in the flesh for ten seconds.
She set the lattes before them and started for the door. 'Simon, I'm going to finish with the SAM arrangements, then I'm out of here. John has your speech all done except for a once–over, so we're going out for a long, quiet, intimate dinner. See you tomorrow: