Posted by Guy C. on June 20, 2004 at 17:35:37 from 81.113.177.2 user Astronomer_Guy.
In Reply to: Life choices & the influence of S&A posted by Bob on June 20, 2004 at 14:24:50:
I was a voracious reader as a child, and first pulled WDMTGTS off the library shelf merely for its title. I was hooked, and read all the ones I could get. Our library lacked WH. My family had a small sailboat on Lake Huron, which made the sailing parts feel very familiar; and I was a glasses-wearing astronomer, which made Dick my special hero. To this day I wipe my glasses in imitation of his nervous habit!
Ten or so years later, as a graduate student in Boston, I happened upon the Hugh Shelley essay on Arthur Ransome in the Boston Public Library (this book should be listed on the TARS Literary Criticism page!), and it sparked a new interest in me. How did I find that book? I have no idea -- I was there looking for some reference book having to do with my thesis in planetary astronomy...
At that point, I was also collecting science fiction books, so I decided to keep an eye out for old Arthur Ransomes whenever I was in a used book store. I was very pleasantly surprised to discover that, unlike most childhood favorite writers, Ransome's writing was every bit as fun to read as an adult as it had been when I was a kid. Better, in some ways.
They helped keep me sane during the pressure of finishing my MIT degree; there is even a slight Ransome reference in the dedication of my MS thesis. When I continued my astronomy studies in Arizona, these books about lakes and water and rain and fog were especially important to me while I tried to cope with living in the desert.
My first trip to the UK was in connection with a two-week NATO conference on astronomy at Newcastle. As it was cheaper to buy a three-week return ticket from the US, I had a free week which I in the Lake District. This was March, 1976; I happened upon some other young folks and wound up spending a magical week hiking through the snow from youth hostel to youth hostel... the first of easily a dozen trips I have made since then.
That trip, I also finally got a copy of Winter Holiday to complete my set. Since then I have shared (i.e. given away) sets to friends with kids; to my sister who teaches 4th Graders in New Jersey; and I even gave a copy of Winter Holiday to a British colleague with whom I spent six weeks meteorite-hunting in Antarctica!
In 1989 I discovered the Arthur Ransome room at the museum in Kendal and signed up for more information for what eventually became TARS; however, that was also the year I entered the Jesuits, and thus had no discretionary income for membership fees. I've regretted ever since not belonging, as it sounds like a lively group; but this list, at least keeps me entertained, and in touch with some very diverse (divers?) characters...