The Moose (that’s me,
Moose of Humor) feels regenerated. It’s almost spring. My yard is thawed
to glorious mud and I’ve spent quality time with young people. Gave a little
talk to the Belmont High School English Honor Society. That’s us in the
picture below, gathered around a library table.
And, I got to work with
seven talented high school writers at the New Hampshire Young Writers
Conference on Saturday, held at New England College. David Carroll,
certified genius and recipient of the MacArthur Prize, gave the keynote. That’s
David standing under the flags answering questions from the young writers.
Some people call David the Turtle Man because he knows all about turtles and
wrote the book Year of the Turtle,
as well as several others. Annie Dillard called him, “A madman, a genius,
and a national treasure.” He is all those things and a heck of a nice guy,
as well as a passionate advocate for natural preservation, which is one step
beyond conservation. He has a shop in Warner, where he and his wife Laurette,
daughter Riana and son Sean sell their gorgeous artwork. Rianna paints on
feathers. I do not tell a lie. Check it out here.
The Moose basks in David
Carroll’s glow. And in the glow of young writers in Belmont and at the
conference. The other day I asked my friend George Radcliffe, known as
Uncle George the Storyteller, how he was doing. He said: “If I was
any better I’d be twins.”
That about sums it up.
So, why, you ask, are you
called the Moose of Humor, besides the obvious physical similarities? Years
ago, New Hampshire Magazine
named me “Thalia, Muse of Humor.” Later, a nice man with a lisp
introduced me as, “Thalia, the Moose of Humor.” I liked it.