The Desert Peach FAQ

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 the Desert 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.smartgroups.com/group/group.cfm?GID=618498

(1) Introduction.
An overview of the Desert Peach.

The Desert Peach is 30 illustrated books (so far) some 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!)

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.

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.

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.")

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.]

Serious Questions.
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?"

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.

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.


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."

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?

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.

The Peach speaks English and French - where did he learn them?

School and summer travel in those countries, when he was younger.

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."

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.

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).

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!

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.

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, at this
point?

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."

What do the family other than Erwin make of Pfirsich? Surely it would be
unlikely that they were all supportive?

The rest of the family never found out. Erwin had to bear the burden alone.
And if you don't think this didn't scare the willies out of him most of the
time, then you've never known fear. However, now that I've realized the
coincidence of names between Rommel's youngest brother, who died in infancy,
and Pfirsich, it makes me wonder who knew what, and when they knew it. I
admit that I have a very hard time getting all the truth and details about
my own family, let alone anybody else's. But Pfirsich's fictional, isn't
he? Isn't he??

Editor and Favorite Helpful Garden Dwarf, Ruth
Saunders(lexin@redrose.worldonline.co.uk)
Help also from: Bjorn Dahlberg.

Help, further questions and comments welcome, send them to Ruth.

The Desert Peach is available from: http://www.stinz.com

In the UK: Page 45, 9 Market Street, Nottingham. NG1 6HY England.
(+44 (0) 115 950 8045

Rest of Europe: Sweden : Staffars Serier, in Stockholm. Address:
Bellmansgatan 26 A. Postal Address: Box 2046, 121 11 JOHANNESHOV, Stockholm.
Phone: 08 -642 91 94.

Switzerland: Analph, Strassburger 10,8004, Zurich, Switzerland.

Australia:

NZ:

USA: Comic Relief, 2138 University Avenue, Berkeley CA 94703.

Dragons Lair Comics, 616 W. 34th Street. Austin. TX 78751

and loads of other places.

WWW Pages: http://www.stinz.com

Ver 1.7 . (c) Donna Barr and Ruth Saunders 2001

There is a Desert Peach discussion list, you can join by going to:
http://www.smartgroups.com/group/group.cfm?GID=618498

If you want to archive this on a web page, *please* let me know so I can
include the URL and *please* keep it updated!



--
Lexin
http://www.lexin.co.uk
aa number: 1947
"Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from
religious conviction." Blaise Pascal, philosopher.
<to reply to me, remove all references to animals from my email address>