Behind the Wrinkles
I, who had wandered the world, sat between a sculptor and a Jew who had survived the Holocaust by joining the Greek Resistance. Next to the sculptor who had spent 25 summers teaching Americans to sculpt in a small town in Italy was a woman who sees the humor in life around her. Next to her was a woman who had fallen in love while a nurse on a hot tropical island during World War II.
Next to the former Greek Resistance fighter who loved to tell jokes, was a woman dressed in a hoopskirt of the Civil War era. Gone with the Wind had inspired her many years ago to study the Civil War and even participate in re-enactments as a Civil War spy. Across from me was a woman who had survived Nazi Germany and driven an ambulance on the front lines during the war. Next to her was a man who had sketched the scenes of war he saw with his own eyes. A spiritual leader, a scientist who could explain how the brain works, a reluctant Tuscan, a one-time actress in television commercials, and a woman who wanted to leave behind the family history rounded out the group.
What the thirteen of us had in common was that we had all published books and were participating in a Book Fair in our retirement community last weekend.
That I live among people of many talents was something I already knew well, but what struck me was how old, wrinkled, and ordinary we all looked now. And yet, we had all had out of the ordinary experiences in our lives that we strongly wished to communicate to others. What made us impressive was that we had used words to convey our life experiences in a readable form for anyone who cared to read about them. We had chosen to write books as part of our legacy to society.
The old adage, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” is true. And, don’t judge an author by how ordinary s/he looks.
Tags: Authors; legacy; Book Fair, Travel
