Dear Editor,
My dad sent me your recent article about the premiere of Fairyland in Kewanee. I live in NYC and was able to attend one of the screenings on October 4th, where Alysia Abbott was there for a Q&A after the film.
Though I’m not a Kewanee native myself, my family is. My father, Matt Michalik, grew up in Kewanee and would often send my brothers and me to stay with my grandparents, Donna and Snooks Michalik, for a week or so every summer. Frequenting Baker Park Golf Course was familiar to all of us, instilling a good golf swing and my grandfather’s repeated advice to always keep our heads down while we swung.
About a month ago, I was in Kewanee for Hog Days. As my dad was escorting my boyfriend and me to the train to catch back to Chicago, we ran into Sue and Joe Cervantes, sister and brother-in-law of Steve Schwefel, a close family friend. They were the ones who alerted us to the news about Fairyland — the book, the film, and its premiere in Kewanee and other major cities, including New York City, where my boyfriend and I live.
Fast forward to October 4th, we attended the screening of Fairyland at the Village East by Angelika Theatre in the East Village. To our pleasant surprise, there was a Q&A after the film with Alysia Abbott herself. Afterwards, I introduced myself as a fellow Kewanee legacy, igniting a familiar reaction anytime Kewanee is brought up: surprise and excitement, and sometimes a shared bond, for better or worse.
I haven’t read the book yet, but the film was deeply moving. It transported me back to a time where some events and attitudes now echo eerily in modern life. The film traces a beautiful and audacious approach to parenting, capturing the complex, tender, and sometimes challenging dynamic between father and daughter, as well as themes of acceptance and grief. By the end, it is Alysia who transforms her father’s life, work, and gifts into a living legacy of her own, carrying forward the care, intention, and beauty he imparted, and showing how love and guidance can ripple far beyond one lifetime.
Attached is a photo from the event. I hope the screening at the Wanee Theatre is a success! It’s a very cool project, and the Kewanee residents should be proud of one of their own living legacies.
And if there is one final takeaway, it’s that there is always a Kewanee connection.
All the best,
Clare Michalik
