All Eyes

We had another brief fling with celebrity a while back; Justin Cronin, author of The Passage was speaking and signing books at Maryville University.

We both liked The Passage a lot, which is unusual since we very rarely appreciate the same books.  In fact, we liked it so much that, even though we’d both read the library’s copy, Nan went out and bought a copy for the inevitable re-read.

 

Justin is an immensely likable guy, full of mirth and passionate about writing.  He signed our copy with a quote from the book, “All eyes,” the motto/watchword of the First Colony Watch.

One of the articles about his visit to Maryville mentioned that the 1949 novel Earth Abides had an influence on him.  I read it in the 70s and it was one of the most memorable of the many post-apocalyptic novels I read as a lad (and I read all I could find).  I pulled my old copy from the shelves; I thought it would be a kick if I could get him to sign it, not as the author obviously, but as someone else who’d read it. I don’t remember ever meeting anybody else who was aware of it, but apparently it’s well thought of in literary circles.

There was a Q&A session after his talk.  He finished his prepared statements with a reading from The Passage.  He read  a pretty intense excerpt and it was hard to get the crowd to come out of their spell and ask some questions.  I grabbed the old book and joined the line, thinking I’d ask him if he would be willing to inscribe “I, Justin Cronin, have also read this book” on the title page.  When I got to the microphone and held it up, he recognized the cover as the same one he had on his bookshelf.  His eyes lit up and he waxed enthusiastic about the book, describing it as the precursor to the Life After Humans mini-wave of books and documentaries that have popped up in the last few years.

The talk was being recorded by HEC-TV, but the video is no longer available on their website.

- Poppa

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