Some Memories from Seguin High

 

The Golden Book of the Mysterious, by Jane Werner Watson and Sol Chaneles. I'm sure I had seen Alan Lee's work before, but this is the first time I became aware of his name and could identify him.

The Illustrated Edgar Allan Poe, by (of course) Edgar Allan Poe, and illustrated by Wilfried "Satty", the same artist who had done my beloved The Annotated Dracula. Probably the first place I read any Poe beyond the ubiquitous selections in English textbooks.

Weland: Smith of the Gods, by Ursula Synge. A novelistic re-telling of the story of Weland (or Volund, or Wayland), I read it as a further exploration of Norse Myth. The first place I ever heard of Weland was as the character of John Wayland Smith in The Dark is Rising.

Down From the Door Where It Began...

Newspaper clipping from the Seguin Gazette in 1972, chronicling my first exposure to the Tolkien legendarium. I was in those elementary grades (the 3rd grade, to be exact) to which it was presented. Coming up on 49 years ago, now. Strange to think that Tolkien was still alive at the time. You might notice that 'Balin' is misspelled 'Falin'. I remember later when the Gazette announced the premiere of the Rankin/Bass Hobbit as a 'Journey to Middle East'.