Touching the Ancient One

July 26, 2006
    I had a conversation last night with my Aunt Mary Harvey that makes me appreciate the joy of life and living; it’s not the first time Mary has given me that lift. She’s in her eighties and has been active all her life. She and her husband Bill have been bowlers for many years with showcases full of trophies to show for it. Mary is legally blind now. Our conversation went something like this:
    Mary said, “I can’t see the marks on the boards anymore, but I can still get the ball in the pocket pretty good.”
    “You’re still bowling? I’d just assumed . . . “
    “Sure . . . been bowling a long time.”
    “But you can’t hardly see!”
    “Memory’s still good. You don’t forget how to bowl.”
    “Incredible!”
    “The last time I bowled, I  broke two hundred in all three games.”
    “No . . . “
    “One of my teammates told me he wished I’d gone blind a long time ago.” She laughed heartily. “I still love to bowl.”
    And I sure do love my Aunt Mary.
Rupert

July 24, 2006
I suppose most authors would like to make some changes to their book once it gets into print. I regret not including a personal name index, an omission I realized was important when a friend pointed out that it was difficult to keep all the names straight. (I think she was also saying that family relationships were hard to remember, an issue that an index would help resolve.)

Before publication, I discussed an index with my editor, but let her talk me out of it. I realize now that it was a mistake. It would have been a service to readers, not only for the stated reasons, but also because the narration, along with the footnotes and bibliography, contain names that might never appear in any other publication. An example is a list of men in the footnotes who were members of Flight 2547 at Sampson Air Force Base. That might be important to someone, and an index could lead them to that list.

A partial remedy is to publish the index apart from the book—which is exactly what I’m doing here by putting it on this website. Readers of Touching the Ancient One, or anyone, for that matter, can obtain a Word copy by emailing me. It’s free. Just tell me what Word format (Mac, Windows, Rich) you want and I’ll send it to you as an attachment. You could, of course, copy and paste it right off this website, but the formatting might be a little strange. Send for your copy now, or go directly to the index. The index can also be accessed on the sidebar to the right.

I hope this is helpful.
Rupert

July 2, 2006

There is a new photograph displayed on the Featured Picture page. You can access it in the sidebar, or by clicking on this link. Being a scanned image of a photo taken with my old Canon, it doesn't have the very high resolution of my later digital images, but is interesting, nonetheless.

Rupert