Post by Tracy on Feb 9, 2011 20:09:26 GMT -5
Mr. Jacques,
I was indescribably sad to hear of your passing. You have given me more than you know and I can only hope you had even some small understanding on the mark you left on this world. I can't speak for your legions of fans out there, but I can at least tell you what you've done for me.
I read your first book, Redwall when I was twelve years old. Although skeptical of a world where talking mice who carried swords was just the norm, I'd heard only good things, and as a child only getting my first taste of true fantasy, I had a go. I don't know if I put that book down after I started the first page. I suppose I slept, although I've been known not to while in the midst of an amazing book.
I finished the book, and sat in that haze I get when I finish something so wonderful. A mixture of delight and also sadness. Sadness because I'm sure it'll be a long time before I get my hands on another book that enthralls me like this one. However, I come to find you've written many more. But again, I was skeptical. Could this first book just be a fluke? A lucky shot in the dark? I'd be crushed if your other books couldn't live up to this. But I tried it again, and I picked up Mossflower. It was even better.
I finished the rest of your books within the next year. A close friend of mine, with whom I'd shared almost every literary love in middle school, seemingly could not be swayed into reading these books. He teased me almost incessantly. I brushed it off. He was breaking one of most important rules: Don't judge a book by it's cover. On my first day of eighth grade, I find I share English with this same friend. I walk into class and find him hiding a book under the table, blocking out everything else in the room, he was so enthralled. I got his attention long enough to find out he was actually reading Outcast of Redwall. He sheepishly admitted to me he'd read almost all the books over the summer.
That year of school, Triss was released and we had a contest to see which if us could get our hands on the book. We made a deal to bring our receipts in to school the following day so we could crown the victor. When school let out, I watched him jump on his bike and pedal away furiously, eager to get to the nearby Barnes and Noble. What he didn't know was that I'd already asked my father to pick up my book that morning. I won.
On Monday, when I'd learned of your passing, Mr. Jacques, I spoke with the same friend. It's over eight years since that day, we've gone our separate ways in college and yet we still had that moment between us. That connection that you've created. But it isn't the only one.
Just a few months after I'd been pulled into your world, I tried my hand at roleplaying. This was back in the hey-days of AOL, so of course I trolled those chatrooms like any another teen of the time. I had an almost perpetual chatroom open: "Redwall Abbey." It saw countless people in and out of it's doors, and at least a couple dozen who stayed long enough to leave an imprint in my life. A handful though, became my friends. Even as we grew older, real lives and high school got in the way, we kept it going. We kept it going past AOL, to forums. Mr. Jacques, we kept that darn roleplay going for eight years; we aged more than our poor characters!
These people saw me through huge moments of my life. Of course I had my close friends in school, but I'd known these Redwall people as long as some, so how were they different? When I was fifteen, I unexpectedly lost my father and I was sure my whole life was crumbling down around me. These friends offered their condolences and their sympathy, but when I told them all I wanted to do was write, they were there to be my partners.
As I got older and moved into my college life, I was actually given the opportunity to meet a couple of these people with whom I've shared this roleplaying story with since I was a child. I got to see them face-to-face, spend time with them. And you know what? It wasn't the awkward feeling of meeting someone new and not knowing what to say. We were old friends. Mr. Jacques, you introduced us, and I can't thank you enough for it.
Now you've passed away and I'm slowly coming to terms with this realization. I suppose it's fitting, if sad, that I shall be reading your final, and 22nd Redwall book, at the age of 22, a decade after I started the series. Your amazing books were not half as grandiose as your own life. May you have a safe journey into the Dark Forest and forever rest in peace.
Tracy
I was indescribably sad to hear of your passing. You have given me more than you know and I can only hope you had even some small understanding on the mark you left on this world. I can't speak for your legions of fans out there, but I can at least tell you what you've done for me.
I read your first book, Redwall when I was twelve years old. Although skeptical of a world where talking mice who carried swords was just the norm, I'd heard only good things, and as a child only getting my first taste of true fantasy, I had a go. I don't know if I put that book down after I started the first page. I suppose I slept, although I've been known not to while in the midst of an amazing book.
I finished the book, and sat in that haze I get when I finish something so wonderful. A mixture of delight and also sadness. Sadness because I'm sure it'll be a long time before I get my hands on another book that enthralls me like this one. However, I come to find you've written many more. But again, I was skeptical. Could this first book just be a fluke? A lucky shot in the dark? I'd be crushed if your other books couldn't live up to this. But I tried it again, and I picked up Mossflower. It was even better.
I finished the rest of your books within the next year. A close friend of mine, with whom I'd shared almost every literary love in middle school, seemingly could not be swayed into reading these books. He teased me almost incessantly. I brushed it off. He was breaking one of most important rules: Don't judge a book by it's cover. On my first day of eighth grade, I find I share English with this same friend. I walk into class and find him hiding a book under the table, blocking out everything else in the room, he was so enthralled. I got his attention long enough to find out he was actually reading Outcast of Redwall. He sheepishly admitted to me he'd read almost all the books over the summer.
That year of school, Triss was released and we had a contest to see which if us could get our hands on the book. We made a deal to bring our receipts in to school the following day so we could crown the victor. When school let out, I watched him jump on his bike and pedal away furiously, eager to get to the nearby Barnes and Noble. What he didn't know was that I'd already asked my father to pick up my book that morning. I won.
On Monday, when I'd learned of your passing, Mr. Jacques, I spoke with the same friend. It's over eight years since that day, we've gone our separate ways in college and yet we still had that moment between us. That connection that you've created. But it isn't the only one.
Just a few months after I'd been pulled into your world, I tried my hand at roleplaying. This was back in the hey-days of AOL, so of course I trolled those chatrooms like any another teen of the time. I had an almost perpetual chatroom open: "Redwall Abbey." It saw countless people in and out of it's doors, and at least a couple dozen who stayed long enough to leave an imprint in my life. A handful though, became my friends. Even as we grew older, real lives and high school got in the way, we kept it going. We kept it going past AOL, to forums. Mr. Jacques, we kept that darn roleplay going for eight years; we aged more than our poor characters!
These people saw me through huge moments of my life. Of course I had my close friends in school, but I'd known these Redwall people as long as some, so how were they different? When I was fifteen, I unexpectedly lost my father and I was sure my whole life was crumbling down around me. These friends offered their condolences and their sympathy, but when I told them all I wanted to do was write, they were there to be my partners.
As I got older and moved into my college life, I was actually given the opportunity to meet a couple of these people with whom I've shared this roleplaying story with since I was a child. I got to see them face-to-face, spend time with them. And you know what? It wasn't the awkward feeling of meeting someone new and not knowing what to say. We were old friends. Mr. Jacques, you introduced us, and I can't thank you enough for it.
Now you've passed away and I'm slowly coming to terms with this realization. I suppose it's fitting, if sad, that I shall be reading your final, and 22nd Redwall book, at the age of 22, a decade after I started the series. Your amazing books were not half as grandiose as your own life. May you have a safe journey into the Dark Forest and forever rest in peace.
Tracy
