The Proust Questionnaire: Michael Maupin

"Like you, I’m just a human."

Feb 20, 2024

After my last Proust questionnaire with Adam Nathan, I was nicely surprised to learn that Michael Maupin used to conduct the Proust Questionnaires as well, and physically. It was as good an opportunity as any to introduce the questionnaire to him and throw light upon his publication StoryShed.

For the uninitiated, Michael's writing is a blend of whimsy, introspection, and a darkly comedic edge. A little bit like an old bourbon. As the first sip goes down, there’s that warm, friendly sweetness. But as it lingers, there are those unexpected smoky notes… A hint of darkness.

Please check him out 👇

And now without further ado, here’s Michael Maupin’s Proust Questionnaire.

Michael, what is your idea of perfect happiness?

Complete certainty I’m in a place where I belong and feel connected to people and things in that place. Which is to say, I’m not in a place of perfect happiness just now.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

I love Shakespeare, but I did my undergrad work on Virginia Woolf. Of course we historically know more about Woolf than we do Shakespeare, but maybe the question should be less “who” and more “who and then why?” If Shakespeare, it’s his expansive imagination. It’s breathtaking what he/she/it accomplished. If Woolf, it’s her ability to choose her words with precision and in a painterly fashion. Mrs. Dalloway is an amazing novel.

Which living person do you most admire?

Barack Obama. Why? What an achievement, what a legacy. My admiration is encased in gratitude he was our president for two terms.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Small-mindedness, pedantic bullshit. Not being more open and loving and happy. Mostly due to dysthymia, if I truly do have that as a mental condition.

What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Flakiness (non-committal behaviors, passive-aggressiveness). Oh, and incuriosity. That drives me crazy.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Money. I’m not very good at savings and investing. I tend to spend the money I have.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Patriotism, honor. Back to Shakespeare: “What is honor? A word.” (Henry IV Part 1, Act V)

On what occasion do you lie?

When I’ve forgotten the truth. Usually out of expediency; to get the story out without double-checking the facts.

What is your greatest regret?

That I didn’t bite the bullet when I was younger and raise my own family. It seems to others I was selfish about my own needs, and while that’s true, it was also out of concern for my mental health and loss of control over my creative work. I felt like I had to “fight for what was mine.”

When and where are you happiest?

When I’m around people whose company I’m enjoying, there’s usually food and drink and something pleasant to look at in the surroundings. Oh, and there’s music somewhere. (Also see photo of me as a toddler throwing a rock by a Michigan lake.)

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

My writing—piles of journals, diaries, stories, poems, notebooks, screenplays, scripts and sketches.

If you could choose to come back as something, what would it be?

The smartest octopus that ever lived.

What is your most treasured possession?

My writing, in general. In particular, a photo that ties to your question #20.

Where would you like to live?

It always seems to be not where I currently am. I’ve yet to find it. That’s why I love traveling when I can—it keeps the hope alive that I will one day discover “home.”

What is your favorite occupation?

Anything involving words and storytelling. That’s why I’ve been a book editor, screenwriter, blog writer, and visual artist, all my life.

What is your most marked characteristic?

My nose.

What do you most value in your friends?

Kindness, openness, humor.

Who are your favorite writers?

Shakespeare, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Andre Gide, Søren Kierkegaard (he’s hilarious, actually)—previously Gustave Flaubert and Ivan Turgenev.

Who are your heroes in real life?

It would surprise him, but my brother Brian. He’s reinvented himself after some terrible setbacks. He’s a tougher person than I am. My other heroes are those who speak up for others over themselves.

How would you like to die?

Peacefully, of course. For burial, my ashes could be strewn exactly where this sailboat is on Lake Minnetonka’s Spring Park Bay (framed photo taken in the late 1970s by me on a weekend photography course project and attached as a jpeg along with a current self-portrait with a self-portrait when I was in my late 20s).