WORDS & ROADS: July 2009

Patrick Leigh Fermor, February 11, 1915–June 10, 2011, was an intrepid traveller, a heroic soldier, and a writer with a unique prose style. After his stormy school days, followed by the walk across Europe to Constantinople that begins in A Time of Gifts: On Foot to Constantinople—From the Hook of Holland to the Middle Danube (1977), continues with Between the Woods and the Water: On Foot to Constantinople from the Hook of Holland—The Middle Danube to the Iron Gates (1986), and finishes in his yet-to-be-published final book of the trilogy, he lived and travelled in the Balkans and the Greek Archipelago. His books Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese (1958) and Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece (1966) attest to his deep interest in languages and remote places. In the Second World War he joined the Irish Guards, became a liaison officer in Albania, and fought in Greece and Crete. He was awarded the DSO and OBE. He lived partly in Greece—in the house he designed with his wife, Joan Elizabeth Rayner, nee Eyres Monsell, in an olive grove in the Mani—and partly in Worcestershire. He was knighted in 2004 for his services to literature and to British–Greek relations. He is considered by some to be the best writer of travel literature.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Reading and writing

Dear readers, here is my first posting since late June. How is everyone’s summer? I have enjoyed a wonderful visit with my teen son from Saint John, New Brunswick—in a week or so I hope to post in detail about our camping trip and such. This morning he returned to his mother and circle of friends. As usual, every July or August, it is sad to see him leave again for another year. He boarded the nine o’clock Air Canada flight, Vancouver–Ottawa–Saint John.

I am reading again—after several years—Paul Theroux’s Sunrise with Seamonsters: Travels & Discoveries 1964–1984, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, 1985, hardcover. I has me thinking about life, my travels past and future, and about the solitary work of writing. This book is one of those special gifts in life, giving me continuing encouragement in my endeavours to write. This is also for all you new and aspiring writers out there.

In his chapter, “V.S. Naipaul”, page 92, I read:

“You should publish it. Send it to a good magazine—forget these little magazines. Don’t be a ‘little magazine’ person. And write something else. Why don’t you write something about this dreadful place?”

“And you need to be calm to write well. Be detached—detachment is very important. It’s not indifference—far from it!”

Then, page 93:

“Never give a person a second chance. If someone lets you down once, he’ll do it again.”

“At this stage of your life your writing will change from week to week. Just let it—keep writing. Style doesn’t matter—it’s the vision that’s important, and writing from a position of strength.”

“Never take people more seriously than they take themselves.”