Bad news first: Like LadyGaga, The Prime MNinister of England, and you, Susan Cooper is not here. The really bad news: she WAS here, until 5:30 AM. I missed her by 7 hours.
The mitigating factor: she had to leave to go to a memorial service in England, which I'm guessing is for Diana Wynne Jones. Even I can admit that
A) Diana Wynne Jones (another of my favorite authors, very funny and clever, author of the Chrestomanci books, among others) death is more sad than my missing Susan Cooper..)
B) If I'd been invited, I'd have gone too.
C) I got to sit next to a Newbury Award winner (the award for best children's book) on the flight to Athens, which ain't so bad. (Her name is Suzanne and I think her book is Shubanu but I may be misremembering.)
D) A Caldecott winner (best picture book) recited a poem before dinner (his name is Ashley Brian. He was AWESOME.
E) 2/3 of the people on the trip are on the Caldecott or Newberry committees. There are way more Children's Lit people than Greek Studies students. Several of them have promised to introduce me to SC when we get home- fingers crossed!
Anyway, trip was smooth, ate tasty honeycake, saw the acropolis from the restaurant's roof .but too tired to figure out how to post pics tonight. Vast majority of attendees are retirees with hearing aids but there are 2 other young teachers who seem cool and 2 grad students. So though I've been called 'kiddoo' already, I'm not the only one.
Tomorrow: Mycenae!
The mitigating factor: she had to leave to go to a memorial service in England, which I'm guessing is for Diana Wynne Jones. Even I can admit that
A) Diana Wynne Jones (another of my favorite authors, very funny and clever, author of the Chrestomanci books, among others) death is more sad than my missing Susan Cooper..)
B) If I'd been invited, I'd have gone too.
C) I got to sit next to a Newbury Award winner (the award for best children's book) on the flight to Athens, which ain't so bad. (Her name is Suzanne and I think her book is Shubanu but I may be misremembering.)
D) A Caldecott winner (best picture book) recited a poem before dinner (his name is Ashley Brian. He was AWESOME.
E) 2/3 of the people on the trip are on the Caldecott or Newberry committees. There are way more Children's Lit people than Greek Studies students. Several of them have promised to introduce me to SC when we get home- fingers crossed!
Anyway, trip was smooth, ate tasty honeycake, saw the acropolis from the restaurant's roof .but too tired to figure out how to post pics tonight. Vast majority of attendees are retirees with hearing aids but there are 2 other young teachers who seem cool and 2 grad students. So though I've been called 'kiddoo' already, I'm not the only one.
Tomorrow: Mycenae!
Oh no! That is bad news. But now I'm dying to find out who all these other children's lit people are on the trip! (Your seatmate, btw, was Suzanne Fisher Staples, who wrote Shabanu: Daughter of the Wind.)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a safe trip!
ReplyDelete