I sat across from two legends on yesterday’s morning show – or at least two legends as far as Kenosha is concerned. One of them was famed children’s author Florence Parry Heide, with over one hundred published children’s books to her credit- and the other was Nan Pollard, a gifted illustrator of children’s books, coloring books, paper dolls, etc. and the wife and partner of one of the country’s best-known portrait artists, George Pollard. The occasion for their visit was a special event at Andrea’s Gift Shop Wednesday evening called Girls Night Out, for which Nan and Florence were the special guests. And to help publicize the event, it was my pleasure and honor to welcome them back to my program after way too many years away from the studio.
I was struck by many things, but maybe more than anything I couldn’t help but admire how comfortably and graciously these two women wear their fame. Unlike a lot of important people who do everything they can to make sure you know how important they are, both of these women have a lovely way of deflecting the spotlight to others and of making you feel like you’re the special person in the room, not them. Which of course ends up making you adore them all the more.
A colleague of mine at Carthage, Charlotte Chell, said it so well in an email this morning when she said that Kenosha is such a perfect-sized community in that it’s large enough to have some really fascinating people living there- and yet it’s small enough that it’s very possible to really get to know those fascinating people- unlike a place like NYC or LA where you really have to be someone in a special inner circle. Not so in a community like this. So she counts herself so fortunate to have been able to really know both of these great ladies. Me, too.
There were so many ingratiating things they said in today’s interview, but one of my favorite moments was when Florence said that one of the most gratifying things about her work as a children’s author is the thought that complete strangers, whom she will never meet and never know, will take her books in hand, read them, and be changed by them- and in some cases perhaps remember those books for the rest of their lives. What a thrill to know that your work is living on in the lives of everyone who is touched by that work.
I also appreciated when Florence said that she loves being a writer because she is never lonely – never restless – and never bored. And I’m sure she’s being completely honest about that. The wonderful thing about writing is that it’s a venture you can undertake just about anytime – and it can take you to some splendid places and open up some marvelous doors.
I ended the hour by reading from Florence’s most recent book- Some Things Are Scary. Every page has a different thing that a kid might find scary, such as : Wondering if you’re going to be the last person picked for the game is scary. Finding out that your best friend has a new best friend and it isn’t you is scary. Sniffing a flower and discovering that a bee is already there is scary. Simple observations like that. So many of Florence’s books are about reassuring children that the feelings they are experiencing are okay, and I just love that. What a great thing to do with one’s life.
One of the common threads through the conversation was that both Nan and Florence feel like they have never quite managed to grow up . . . which is why they have been able to create such successful works for children. What a great lesson for the rest of us as well . . . that we sometimes achieve our most distinctive greatness when we are fully embracing that childlike sense of wonder which really makes life worth living. May we never lose that – or if we’ve lost it, may we manage to rediscover it somehow, before it’s too late.