In the Masthead
I got my copy of the new Lady Churchill’s 18. My name is in the masthead! Don’t I feel big and important now?
I also got a response from Aunt Gwenda as regards a delicate conundrum I had been trying to avoid. Yes, I asked for help from an advice column. You are surprised? I am not. Perhaps I am more of a basket-case than I let on. Anyhow, Gwenda’s unmeasured response revealed a complete lack of compassion for the plight of stuffed animals. She insinuated none too subtly that I must be deranged for still possessing such things.
So I learned my lesson. No more advice from highfalutin strangers. Next time I’m asking my Rickys what they think.
posted by mjd 
in News | 4 Comments »
Hi Mike,
Congrats on being the LCRW mastman!
Oh, and I should let you know that I hunt stuffed animals for sport. But I never eat them. Hey, there’s a De Luca or Howe story in that!!!
JSR
Hello, I second the Ridler’s congratulations. That’s great you’re getting some notarity in the industry.
Regarding the advice column and stuffed animals, I looked on the site for a couple minutes but was completely lost. Perhaps it was in June and now that the month changed it’s lost in some archiverse I am unable to navigate.
Anyway, without having seen the question or answer, I will now attempt to give an opinion. Most likely the question had to do with you having stuffed well into adulthood, and her answer was “to put childish things away”.
I’ll admit to having some stuffed animals, and I think they are similar to having action figures or other toys. I was very amused by James Morrow bringing some toys to Odyssey, and Allen Steele showing his brainstorming notebook that looked like it was out of high school study hall. I took these events as confirmation that many writers retain a child-like view of the world. If this advice columnist was so ‘adult’ to be dissmissive of stuffed animals, then it’s her loss. I think curiosity and tolerance are child-like traits, which the world’s waves try to erode like mountains into beaches.
Ok I should put a sock in it until I actually read the advice column in question. Hope you are having a nice weekend!
Right, sorry–that link is to Gwenda’s blog, not to her advice column. To read her criticism of my sentimentality regarding fuzz-filled animal companions, you’ve got to either buy a copy of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristled voume 18, or pester me for my copy.
And I agree, that childlike capacity for awe does seem to be a prerequisiste for good writing.
Thanks for the response!