I think this bears posting...

[gullwhacker]

I just found out that Brian Jacques died this past weekend.

I have a bit of a history with the Redwall books. I can't recall when I started reading them, though I'd lay odds on it being in the 90s. Started with Mossflower - which remains my favorite of the lot - and went on from there.

I haven't read any of the later books; I drifted away from the series some years back. Still, they left their mark on me. Back in...'98, '99? My brothers and I played a lot of Myth online, and I wound up quoting one of the Dibbuns' songs in teamchat. This led to joining an in-game Redwall-fans clan. Usernames were easy to tweak in those days, and I bounced between a few Redwall-themed names before settling on one.

'Gullwhacker'.

I've been using it since before I met any of you who read this journal, and I figure I'll keep on using it. So...though I haven't read the Redwall books in a while, they're a part of my history.

Brian Jacques, you will be missed.

Comments

[scraadin.livejournal.com]

They've got their place in my history too. I started out with Redwall, which probably remains my favorite, though I have a soft spot for all of the early books. I met Brian Jacques once. In fact, he was the first author I ever met, right when Legend of Luke came out.

There was a snow day, and I got to meet him in a tiny bookshop where he was doing a reading. I think I was one of maybe a dozen kids there. He was the author who opened my eyes to just how vividly a picture could be painted with words. So a lot of my writing style, I owe to him.

I may have drifted away from the series not long after that, with the growing realization that the plots were endlessly recycled.

But while I was there, I had an incredible amount of fun.

[auriga]

It's been a long time, but the Redwall books were always a delight to read. He will definitely be missed.