You know what I love? I love that the entire blogosphere today (first time using that word unironically) is a celebration of Kurt Vonnegut, with the same motifs: "Kurt Vonnegut changed my life" "I remember the teacher/person who gave me my first Kurt Vonnegut book", "Kurt Vonnegut is the reason I became a writer." These things are true of almost everyone I know (at least everyone I've talked to or read today.)
Normally when someone dies and everyone rushes to make it all about themselves it's tacky and vicariously embarrassing, but not today, not this one time with this one person. Kurt Vonnegut made himself so available to his readers (and to anyone -- he could often be found sitting on a bench on a corner near the U.N., and would chat with anyone who sat down next to him) that it's the rare fan who doesn't have a personal recollection of meeting him or having his or her letter answered (at least until late in his life, KV would punctually answer any letter that contained a self-addressed-stamped-envelope.)
In a perfect world, there would be a state funeral, flags at half-staff, Kurt Vonnegut Day, all the awards his books never won (Nobel, Pulitzer, National Book Award) awarded posthumously, and a great big oral biography called 'Kurt Vonnegut Changed My Life' (okay, there will be an oral biography, no doubt about it), but in a perfect world we wouldn't have needed him as much as we did.
We all have the same story: Kurt Vonnegut changed our lives, and I think he would want us each to own that and to share our stories (or at least he wouldn't care). Here's one of my favorites today: Kurt is Up in Heaven Now (Matt Tobey)
You = Gay
Posted by: Worker #3116 | April 12, 2007 at 04:59 PM
Off topic.
But didn't you come up with this idea two years ago?
http://www.frenchrabbit.com
Posted by: Travis | April 13, 2007 at 10:48 AM
I remember when my kooky English teacher, Mr. Granner, gave me a copy of Breakfast of Champions when I graduated high school and how great it was.
Posted by: Jameson | April 17, 2007 at 09:45 PM