It's been a while since I've posted an installment of Early Literary Influences, and it's with a sad heart that I do so now, to pay tribute to a writer who caught my imagination at a young age, held it, and then allowed me to share my love of his writing with a new generation in my son.
I remember the first Discworld book I ever read: The Color of Magic, Discworld Volume I, referred to me by a friend. While at the time I devoured every fantasy book I could get my hands on, it's the humor the author infused in his work that kept me coming back for more. Zingy one-liners, connections I'd never made before that were so obvious after he pointed them out, and unfunny things (like Death playing grandpa) becoming side-splittingly hilarious.
I'd given up my dreams of writing before I came to know his work, and enmeshed myself in the world he created, a mysterious place where goats classified all things into four categories: something to eat, something to run from, something to mate with, and rocks. Heh. I know people like that, but I digress.
Twoflower and Rincewind, Death, Susan Death and her friends, and the Death of Rats, all entertained me. Nothing could have delighted me more than when my son found the books and loved them as much as I do. Even today, years after reading, we can share a line from one of the books and still get a giggle.
Although now it's time to say goodbye to author Terry Pratchett, he lives on in his words, in this readers, and in the aspiring authors he influenced. Maybe someday my grandkids will quote lines of his works to me.
At one time sixty-six seemed ancient, now I find it quite young. Too young for a man with so many story left to tell to leave us.
Rest in Peace, oh creator of worlds. Many thanks for the laughs, the insights, and the things that made me go "Hmmm..."
I'll never view rats the same way again. Or turtles.
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