I remember as a child and young(er) adult that sense of disappointment and betrayal when you meet someone you idolise, either in person or through a biography, only to discover your hero has feet of clay. Is rude, arrogant, or otherwise obnoxious. How can this be!? you ask yourself. How can the person that made something I love not be lovely themselves?
That seems to be the heart of the betrayal. If you love a band, or a piece of music, and the composer turns out to be a racist bigot, it betrays your understanding of why you liked it in the first place, perhaps even who you are yourself. That's even more true with writing I think - books are full of the personality who wrote them, something some people seem to find hard to believe. So if you have thought the same way as the words that floated off the page and into your head, it seems impossible that you would not like the author who wrote them.
Which brings me to Thursday, when I met the very first writing hero who entered my life: Susan Cooper. I am not alone in people of my generation of having had my imagination fired and shaped and moulded by Susan's Dark Is Rising sequence. It's an absolute classic of children's fiction and remains quite rightly in print today, and still as revered as ever.
Over the course of the evening I only had this opinion reinforced, for Susan is a fascinating lady with a wonderful life story to tell. Furthermore, her new book, Ghost Hawk, is brilliant, and I urge you to go and buy a copy. A real physical one, because it's beautiful.
So sometimes, meeting your heroes turns out to be a very wonderful thing indeed.
4 comments:
I had a similar experience meeting you today and you had the same qualities you noted in Susan Cooper. As you interacted with others after your presentation, your kindness is what stood out most to me. You made time for every person. It was a pleasure to meet you today.
Thanks Angela, I'm so glad you had a nice evening. Why shouldn't someone make time for people who've taken the trouble to come out and support them? It's only natural, I think. But thanks :-)
Deeply envious - she is one author I would dearly love to meet. As you say, The Dark is Rising fundamentally shaped so many of us! Delighted to hear that she is as wonderful as her reputation deserves.
How wonderful to hear that Susan Cooper is as nice as I hoped she would be. The Dark Is Rising Sequence was the first books I read under the duvet, with a torch my Grandad gave me as a secret gift so I could do just that. I re-read them at least once per year, and think about them on and off every week or so. The sign of a book which really has wriggled it's way into my brain!
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