Posted by Gerard on December 14, 1998 at 18:38:46:
and I probably shouldn't have done it. I couldn't
resist the temptation, especially seeing as he is
old, going blind etc. He has indicated that he is
a private person, and that his personal life is
irrelevant to his books, etc.
I believe his wife answered the phone. I said the usual
"your books are so great" dreck, basically. He thanked
me, and was obviously thinking all the time "who the hell
is this and how did he get my #"
He sounded like a strong curmudgeonly guy that I had
anticipated. There were many questions I had (and have)
that only he can answer. Some demon of impishness made me
actually tell him that the turbot of Green Pearl that
swallowed the pearl later was described as a different fish;
he said he couldn't remember everything. heh
His very response upon receiving the grandmaster award for
SF should've warned me sufficiently not to contact him;
but the temptation of hearing his voice before it is no
more was simply too great.
If Tolkien had been alive when I read LOR I would've written
and called him too, but then he was quite tolerant of the
VAST amount of letters and even personal visits from rabid
fans he got. He thought some were overboard, and a product
of the somewhat deranged American scene as he saw it.
He warned some against the all-too-seductive appeal of
total immersion in a fantasy world (which is what he did himself). He even had his and his wifes' gravestones
inscribed with Elvish names!Those interested in Tolkien's
interaction with fans should get Humphrey Carpenter's
Collected Letters of Tolkien (and biography).
I did tell Mr. vance that I loved the dialogues, my favorite
being that of Aillas with the husband of that witch, as they
haggled about money by way of a battle of proverbs. He
seemed to like that.
If you wish to call him--and you had better have a better
reason than I--use the MESA search engine at Uni-Hannover,
Germany.
Gerard