Questions and Answers

A post from Paris via Fogo Island, Toronto and San Francisco.

As the year ends with the usual holiday celebrations, it is also time to celebrate another event, the 3rd anniversary of the publishing of GERTRUDE AND ALICE AND FRITZ AND TOM.

Sometimes it feels as if this happened a long, long time ago, but whenever I pick up a copy of the book to send out, there are still very positive feelings of accomplishment, newness and satisfaction.

A few weeks ago, those feelings hit an all time high when a package arrived from Toronto. In it was an exquisite bottle of Turkey Hill maple syrup – “Canada No. 1 Light,” some Mary MacLeod’s Shortbread – “Handmade All Butter,” two, attractive greeting cards (one with the Cat in the Hat, the other with the image of a folk art style elephant), several photographs, and a block letter written note, which looked very much like the one from Fritz and Tom in my book.

The package came from a family we had met in Newfoundland on Fogo Island in August. It was mailed in gratitude for two copies of GERTRUDE AND ALICE AND FRITZ AND TOM, which I had sent to Matthew and Trevor.

During our Fogo Island stay, we had watched this family heading out on their daily explorations of the island and had marveled each evening when they came down to dinner, “dressed for dinner,” but looking not at all Downton Abbey stuffy, but 21^st century proper and relaxed.

 

At dinner on their final evening, it occurred to me that the two brothers were roughly the ages of Fritz and Tom and that I wanted to send them copies of the book. I walked over to their table, mentioned that I’d written a picture book and would like to mail them copies when I got home. I was given their address and the books went out when we returned to San Francisco.

I have an unnatural, somewhat naive confidence in snail mail, so when I didn’t hear that the books had arrived, I became concerned. Several weeks later,  I received a phone call from Matthew’s and Trevor’s father with a sincere apology. The thank you package which they had sent contained a bottle of ice wine and had been held by U.S. customs (though they had been assured by the courier service that there would be no problem.) The package was now on its way back to Toronto. When they received it back, he told me they would attempt another mailing, this time with no “contraband!”

The package arrived and filled me with the best of holiday cheer!

The maple syrup, in a bottle as appropriate for Chanel No. 5 as Canada No. 1 light and the delicate shortbread in two, master-baker shapes, already made it a super-special gift. But the Dr. Seuss card, photographs, and letter, took it to a whole new Nieman-Marcus catalog level!

Dr. Seuss has been a hero of mine for the last sixty years, so a card with the iconic Cat in the Hat, thanking me for my book was a very thoughtful gesture. (The folk art elephant card contained a warm thank you from Matthew’s and Trevor’s parents.)

And then the photo of the two boys on the observation level of the Eiffel Tower brought FritzandTomandMatthewandTrevor together after more than 90 years. That was a WOW moment.

But, the thank you letter, in the elementary school penmanship took WOWdom to a whole new place – the real history of FritzandTom with my imagined thank you letter and the thank you letter from MatthewandTrevor created an inspired and fun  circularity that Gertrude Stein would have enjoyed. After all  “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose.”

 

What a brilliant way to begin the Holidays and end the year. And a mighty marvelous, really remarkable, and constantly creative New Year to all!

 

 

Tagged Fogo Island Inn, Gertrude and Alice and Fritz and Tom