During the question and answer session, Barr addressed a number of topics, from a possible “Roseanne” TV show reunion — she thinks it will happen but doesn’t know any details — to how much it sucks to go through menopause.
“It’s very hard isn’t it… Don’t pick up that axe and kill that family even though I know you’re really wanting to… Just know that your body is turning on you and you’re going to be dead soon,” she said.
Barr discussed her next projects, which include running for the highest office in two countries.
“I am running for the president of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel on the Green ticket, because, as you read in ‘Roseannearchy’ you’ll discover that I am chock full of solutions to the world’s problems,” she said.
She still keeps in contact with some of the cast from “Roseanne,” including Sarah Gilbert, who came out as a lesbian in 2010. The groundbreaking TV show ran from 1988 to 1997.
“I was on (Gilbert’s new show ‘The Talk’) last week,” Barr said. “I’m very proud for her ya’know, being who she is and being out there. She has a wonderful partner and two kids. It’s very cool, it’s very modern, it’s about time.”
When asked about her beauty secrets she replied, “I smoke a lot of medicinal marijuana,” before explaining that she is a proponent of hemp and legalizing marijuana.
Many of her fans, most of whom appeared to be in their 30s or later, praised her for not only being funny, but lauded her inclusion of gay characters and issues in a time before it was commonplace to see them on television.
“I did it and I’m very proud that I did that and I always say that I did that because I have a gay brother and a lesbian sister who I always saw what happened to them growing up in Salt Lake City, Utah,” she said.
“My brother had his nose broken nine times by the time he was nine years old, and of course they always had their other reasons, but we knew what it was.”
Shannon Stuckey of East Point came to see the woman who was responsible for her “favorite sitcom of all times.”
“Of course it was that,” Stuckey said of the inclusion of gay and lesbian characters before gesturing to her partner.
“And of course we’re together… There was that and her sitcom was real, it wasn’t that you were a lawyer and had the perfect kids, it was real, and it was rough,” Stuckey added.
The themes of financial struggle and occasional marital strife from the “Roseanne” series still hit home with her fans. Coming to Outwrite to get a book signed sparked a minor argument between Raymond Russell and his partner, Matt Burns, of Decatur.
“I wanted to buy the book last night but he wouldn’t let me,” Russell said.
“Because we can’t afford it,” Burns interjected.
“I slept on the couch and he slept in the bedroom because I bought the book anyway,” Russell said, carefully lofting the book in his hand as they waited in line to get a signature.
“We can’t afford it, this should have been our light bill,” Burns said, “But we love Roseanne anyway.”
Top photo: Roseanne Barr reads from her book “Roseannearchy: Dispatches from the Nut Farm” at Outwrite Bookstore and Coffeehouse. (By Matt Schafer)