Back on April 16th I told you folks all about a fan letter that I had received – asking about where I found my inspiration.
Well – let me tell you about another fan letter – one I received way back in February.
DEAR MR. VERNON,
My name is Aiden. I take life plain and simple. I am a huge fan of you and your books! It’s some of the most interesting stuff that happens here in New Ross. You may have heard of our town. We are in the middle of Nova Scotia. We have one or two tales of our own you may want to hear. One is about a young boy that disappears when he goes fishing.
There are probably more.
I was wondering if maybe you would come to our school and give us a presentation. We are just over 100 people at our school and located in the middle of Highway 12. If not, then don’t worry about it.
Your fan,
Aidan.
That was, as I mentioned, back in February. Some of you more calender-0riented folks might have noticed that this letter actually came before Lucy’s letter.
I should warn you that I am a writer of fiction and am chronically prone to the wholesale fudging of numerous details.
Bluntly put, I get paid to fudge things up.
I immediately e-mailed the school principal and made arrangements to get out there for a visit. It took two months to line things up but I am leaving this morning for a visit to the New Ross Consolidated School.
I want to throw a BIG tip of the fishing cap to the good folks at the Hackmatack Committee who helped to make this visit a reality – namely, by providing a drive to the school and back.
I love visiting these small rural schools. There is such a close-knit sense of community and commitment. The kids there are ALWAYS eager to listen and learn. I anticipate a fine morning and I am looking forward to hopefully meeting plain-and-simple Aiden and handing him an autographed copy of one of my books.
I get home this afternoon and will rush off to a night shift at my day job and most likely come tomorrow morning I will lay upon my couch and make small quiet breathing sounds while the weariness weeps out of my bones – but it’s worth it just to get out and visit those schools.
Here I go!
yours in storytelling,
Steve Vernon
YOURS IN STORYTELLING... 