Posted by Alex Forbes on October 21, 2003 at 16:13:24 from 209.86.253.109 user Pitsligo.
In Reply to: Re: inspiration for posted by Peter Willis on October 20, 2003 at 22:49:53:
But it's still interesting to guess at what inspired AR to think of "duffer" just then. There were many slangy turns of phrase when I was in high school, many in daily use, but darned if they come to mind nowadays until something joggles the memory. Did AR happen to be reading Riddle during the writing of SA (certainly seems like good inspirational reading while writing a book like SA) at just the right time to bring "duffer" to mind? No way to know of course, but it's a fun link --intellectual degrees of separation-- to ponder.
"Perhaps the most eloquent examples of this are Robert McCloskey’s children’s books Time of Wonder and One Morning in Maine."
AR, Childers, and McCloskey? Jonathan, you're welcome on my deck any day.
Alex