John D. Rateliff's Blog, page 4

Jimmy Carter Day

So, Jimmy Carter has just turned a hundred years old -- something no other President has achieved. 

No one has ever done a better job of being Ex-President. An interesting legacy, and one that I doubt will be matched.

I met him at a book signing once (he was famous for his epic book-signing sessions), and I wonder if he might hold some king of record there as well. 

He's also the first person I voted for in a presidential election.

He didn't cure river blindness but he helped a lot of people over the years --from the roll-up-yr-sleeves and pitch in of Habitats for Humanity to election monitoring and off-the radar unofficial diplomacy. 
I hear they're planting a hundred trees in his honor. I wonder what kind, and where?
Well done, Mr. Carter.
--John R.
 

 

D&D Gets Some Respect

So, thanks to Andrew H for this  link to a piece by a writer with the great name of Jedediah Berry. And the article is pretty good too: from the inside, linking together the roles of DM and author in a respectful way. And it's not another one of those journalist-descends-to-write-about-strange-people-and-their-strange (possibly dangerous) hobby. 

https://lithub.com/what-fiction-writers-can-learn-from-dungeons-dragons/ 

--And this  is a week when 'Settlers of Catan' was the correct answer to one of the challenges on NPR's 'Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me'  (an answer they didn't quite get right).

Have I mentioned the fundraising event coming up for the state of Washington's Attorney General where he's focusing the  event on his being a dedicated fan of the game? More on this one later.

--John R.

Marquette Tolkien in Sixty Seconds

So, thanks to Janice and to Jim Lowder for the link to this nice little piece: a brief account and overview of Marquette's Tolkien Collection. 

https://today.marquette.edu/2024/09/60-second-marquette-on-bill-fliss-the-tolkien-collection/

As someone who's spent a lot of time with this collection, let me say if you ever get the chance to see this in person, it's well worth the visit.

P.S.: can you spot the point where they briefly show my book?

--John R.

I.C.E. / E.Q. books

So, back in the day when there was no online gaming and DMs were hard to find, some of us filled the gap with pick-a-path books.*

 

Of the many variants thereof, the ones by Iron Crown (a.k.a. i.C.E.) show how relaxed a lot of game companies' understanding of copyright --esp. other people's copyright-- cd be.  And the trouble this cd cause when the Other People (e.g. lawyers) were paying attention.

 

So far as I can tell, I.C.E. released ten books in four series: Tolkien Quest (two books), Middle-earth Quest (four books), Narnia Solo Games (one book), and Sherlock Holmes Solo Mysteries (three books). It started as Tolkien Quest, then quickly changed to Middle-earth Quest --indeed one of the books advertised as part of the T.Q. series had been re-labeled to be MeQ books instead by the time it came out. 

Here's a listing which may not be complete, given that more books were announced than ever appeared on shelves.

 

I. Tolkien Quest

   —The Legend of Weathertop.  by Heike Kubasch (1985)

   —Night of the Nazgul.  by John David Ruemmler (1985)

 

II. Middle Earth Quest

—Rescue in Mirkwood.   by Gerald Lientz (1988).**  

—Treason at Helm's Deep.   by Kevin Barrett & Saul Peters (1988)

—Mines of Moria.  by Susan Mathews & J. D. Ruemmler (1988)

—A Spy in Isengard.  by Terry K. Amthor (1988)

            [Search for the Palantir]. announced but never released]

            [Race from RIvendell ].  never released

 

Next Up: Narnia Quest

--John R

*P.S.: In my case it was Dungeon Geomorphs and Cal-tech encounter tables, quickly followed by the Player's Handbook, which I actually read all the way through, from start to finish.

**best cover

 

Tolkien Quest

So, here are two very similar books published not that far apart. 

 One of those cases where small differences opened up a potential nightmare for that publisher, who  reallly shd have seen it coming.

And by the by this sequence of events had the wholly unintended result of allowing me to miss GenCon, that year. Among other things. 

More later

--John R.

Names and Numbers

 So, Janice asked me a question I cdn't answer. In TotR Orcs occasionally refer to other orcs as having identification numbers. She asks: Who keeps track of the enormous bureaucracy this wd generate?

I'm rereading The Lord Of The Rings for the first time in years and I have questions! John is absolutely no help.In Book 6 Chapter 2 during a dust-up a soldier orc threatens to report a tracker orc. The tracker demands to know to whom he'll be reported and the soldier responds, "I'll give your name and number to the Nazgûl." What is this number? Who assigns it? What is it used for? Is there a Mordor Department of Orc Relations? Is there a separate Mordor Department of Human Relations for the easterlings? Do they share office space? I have so many questions.

There's a hint sharing something of the same attitude in Tolkien's anger in his comments to the Zimmerman script at the rooms in the inn at Bree having been assigned room numbers. 

--John R.

More on the Anderson Design Group's calendar

So,  a little more judicious poking showed a listing of retro-style posters. Here's the listing:

https://www.andersondesigngroupstore.com/a/collections/literary-classics?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACw_eEcg_BJukFk-tbLc4CXCZcrLD&gclid=CjwKCAjw5qC2BhB8EiwAvqa41uRbXvmTCznc0BEEeDT-BXiY7DJ6b_23tIu3YSnJVL0MXsGziIRgrxoC2r8QAvD_BwE

Of this fuller list, I've read thirty-six of forty.

--John R.

 

update

So, thanks to Paul W. for pointing this out: there was indeed a link that got left out to my recent post re. the odd assortment of folks who identify with Tolkien.

The Boston Globe website proved surprisingly difficult to navigate, but let's try that again.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2024/08/02/opinion/essay-lord-of-the-rings/?utm_campaign=Opinion_Facebook&fbclid=IwY2xjawE3Hl1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfHXK2w5GiAl0KgiWqJycUjoF8LJrqGc62XkhBfzLrfZ7v_Ft3xKTDzYLg_aem_0AEGWW7-rizoryagH8fuTw

--John R.  

This year's calendar: 'Literary Classics'

 So, my office calendar this year (in a break with tradition, replacing the Mayan) is an oversized wall calendar called 'Literary Classics', with Art by 'Anderson Design Group', whom I've never heard of. But I like the art, which seems deliberately evocative of the WPA poster art of the 1920s and 30s. 

Just as interesting as the style are the choices of the Literary Classics chosen.  

January: 20,000 Leagues

February: Peter Rabbit

March: The Call of Cthulhu

April: The Count of Monte Cristo

May: The Secret Garden

June: Treasure Island

July: Hamlet

August: The Island of Dr. Moreau

September: Moby Dick

October: Sleepy Hollow

November: The Little Mermaid

December: The Time Machine

An eclectic group. Some quite short (the Potter, Irving, Andersen, Wells), others quite lengthy (Dumas, Melville).  I suspect I'm not the only one who, when confronted by such a grouping of display, such as frequently appear in the local Barnes & Noble,  pauses a minute to work out how many of them I've read. So I'll go ahead and confess I've never read The Secret Garden or Count of Monte Christo. And while I'm at it, I'll share that my favorite among the art pieces here are the dramatic view of the last moments of the Pequod and crew; the Verne; and The Time Machine.

The most interesting thing about this selection is that it includes Lovecraft, who continues his ascent out of the pulp dungeon towards canonization --which wd I think have astonished Lovecraft and his pulp peers.

No Tolkien, but then he's in copyright.

For those who want to see more of these posters, see 

https://www.andersondesigngroupstore.com/a/collections/literary-classics?gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAACw_eEcg_BJukFk-tbLc4CXCZcrLD&gclid=CjwKCAjw5qC2BhB8EiwAvqa41uRbXvmTCznc0BEEeDT-BXiY7DJ6b_23tIu3YSnJVL0MXsGziIRgrxoC2r8QAvD_BwE

or 

https://www.andersondesigngroupstore.com/a/collections/search?

or just ADG.com

--John R.

Calendar

So, I like calendars. 

For years now I've gotten several every year: 

--each year's new Tolkien calendar (sometimes multiple different Tolkien calendars in the same year), which I hang up in my office

--a Mayan calendar (beautiful artwork and archeology), which I hang just under the Tolkien one

--the Moon calendar (combining in a postersized grid a calendar, the entire phases of the moon for one year, and a little image of the moon as it appears on that day); this hangs in the stairwell in the hallway next to the cat-stand

-- a half-sized calendar, about the size of a trade paperback book, for carrying in my satchel. The topic for this one can vary widely.  This wide range of topics applies also to the downstairs calendar hanging by the phone; these two are the ones we write on to keep track of the schedule. The current ones are whimsical Lear birds and drawings of fruits and berries, respectively

--and a miniature calendar the size of a credit card (good in previous years for scheduling; nowadays the print size is too small for aging eyes).

As for this year's calendar, 'Literary Classics', see next post.

--John R.

current reading: THE SHADOWS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WORLD by Th. Ligotti