“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain
I found out my friend Robert Gipe, author of Trampoline, was reading today at Morris Book Shop. Annie Bassoni agreed to meet me there. We enjoyed Robert’s easy manner as he brought his characters to life with his natural southern mountain drawl. I even ran into Nick Stump whom I hadn’t seen in more than a month of Sundays. In fact, every time I see Robert lately I also see other favorite people I haven’t seen in a really long time. I’m beginning to think he’s my good luck charm. Did I mention that Trampoline is a wonderful book? He did the illustrations, too, which I find a real addition to the story. Afterward, Annie confessed that she had never attended a reading before today. Well, that just made me proud as could be, that she would make Robert her first. She’s recently taken to reading a lot of Appalachian writers, so who better to introduce her to the joys of hearing an author sing their words than a tall, smart man from the mountains of Virginia? I call this a winning day.
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