5-8-13 RMB Swooning
Dear Rita Mae Brown,
I finished Southern
Discomfort. Lines in your books open up thought, expand awareness.
Often it is about more than the words. It is an effect ignited by where you
place them and who is saying them, thinking them or what they describe. It’s a
mark of fine writing.
This is one such line from Southern
Discomfort: “But sometimes you learn more from silence than by asking
questions.” With the child’s one word reply, “Maybe”, I felt her absorb a degree
of the knowledge she sought by the silence she’d already observed.
After starting Sudden
Death I fear I will now come to look forward to the words prior to page
one more so than those that follow. In the Acknowledgements you made me laugh
over and over as I trotted up and down stairs then round and round parking
spaces on my lunchtime regimen.
This is dangerous…you try
laughing and reading while going up and down stairs. Your books should contain
a cautionary label: “Warning, fits of laughter may occur in the course of
reading this book. DO NOT operate heavy machinery, nor travel in stairwells
while under the influence of the words contained herein.”
Page x contains: “I expect
you to frame the photo on the back of this book and swoon at regular intervals.
Go on, a little worship is good for the soul – mine.” I refuse to ruin a book.
However, at the risk of being carted away, I confess to often glancing at the
photo of you which initially sparked my interest, among others. I suppose I
swoon some.
I suspect a little worship
may do your soul good now and then. However, my reasons are more selfish than
that. I glance at your photo for me, because somewhere mid-swoon, you bring a
smile to my face. I hope this confession has brought one to you. Just so you know,
if anyone asks, I will deny this vehemently.
This letter will now self
destruct,
Loraine
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