Re: new books comment
Posted by:
jdworth (IP Logged)
Date: 30 April, 2013 12:32AM
I will second Phillip's sentiments, Dr. Farmer. The debt we owe to you, as well as others, goes beyond words. Were it not for the work accomplished by you and your fellows, there is so much both about and by CAS I would still know nothing about; and I would be immeasurably the poorer for it.
I will also add a note concerning the young in such context. A few years ago, when I was working at a specialty bookstore, I was restocking the shelves when a group of high-school-to-early-college kids came in. They were quite involved in their conversation, and I let them go about their business as I went about mine... until I heard one of them make the comment, "Yeah, she was known as the "IT" girl"... and my ears pricked up, and I couldn't help (given their age) but think: "No, they can't possibly be talking about Clara Bow".... And, of course, they were. Turns out they were all great fans of silent film (among other things), and we had a lovely discussion about the relative merits of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd, not to mention such directors as Victor Sjostrom, Erich von Stroheim, and King Vidor... as well as such figures as Ms. Bow, Mary Pickford, and Louise Brooks.... Nor is this sort of thing all that uncommon, as I have had no few encounters with younger people who read, admire, and wish to emulate writers such as CAS, HPL, or Cabell (among others).... And yes, this sort of thing does tend to hearten one, when we are so often surrounded by evidences of the attempted (and too often successful) "dumbing-down" of our culture....