A night at the Tattered Cover
Those of you who follow my blog know I appeared tonight at the Tattered Cover in Denver. I spent the first 40 years of my life largely bereft of friends, but I’m sure making up for it now!
I had dinner tonight with publicity consultant Bella Stander and her husband, and literary agent Kristin Nelson. We were a bit late getting started and I had to dash off to the event, but they followed along a few minutes later and seized the last couple of seats in the reading room.
This evening’s event was special for several reasons, all of which were unknown to my audience until they occurred.
I had two surprise assistants, young Aspergians, eight and ten years of age, respectively. I introduced my little helpers, one of whom was driven all the way from Colorado Springs. But mere introduction was not enough. They wanted more. So I brought them up to the stage, and ensconced them upon the two thrones immediately behind my podium.
They took the microphone, and we did the introductions. After that, the younger one - Alex - was content to reign over the room, while his older sidekick - Bryce - assisted me.
For the first time, at the Tattered Cover, I introduced a guest reader. Ten-year-old Bryce read the first paragraph of Look Me in the Eye to acclaim from the crowd, after which I finished the story while he stood beside me and acted out all the gestures.
Later in my talk, Bryce quietly arose from his throne and went to the desk, which the Tattered Cover staff had thoughtfully stocked with Velcro, any young Aspergian’s best friend. As I spoke and Alex gazed placidly at the crowd, Bryce velcroed everything in sight, out of sight of the crowd, in plain sight of everyone.
It was truly a magical evening. The unexpected addition of two young free range Aspergians was great. The questions from the audience were the best part of the night.
And the people from the blog world . . . Sex Scenes From Starbucks was there http://sexscenesatstarbucks.blogspot.com/ , and she was younger, blonder, and better looking than I’d been led to expect from the name. Woof. Lisa Kenney from Eudeamonia http://eudaemoniaforall.blogspot.com/ couldn’t make it, but her friend Karen came down with a book for me to sign.
I talked more about what it means to be an Aspergian, and how parents and young people should focus on their Aspergian gifts as opposed to the weaknesses, because it’s our gifts that the world needs. The world needs more geeks.
I talked about the need for compassion and understanding, and the great things we can accomplish together. And my Aspergian assistant spoke briefly of his fascination with ancient Egypt and his ability to name all the presidents, forward and backward, in order.
It was another fun night. I wish I’d made plans to stay a few more days, but I’m back home first thing in the morning.
Before I go, I have to mention one more thing . . . Denver is full of trains. Light Rail. Trolley cars, like I rode as a child in Philadelphia, updated for the 21st century. Buses too. It was such a refreshing alternative to taxis and congestion I've encountered elsewhere.
I had dinner tonight with publicity consultant Bella Stander and her husband, and literary agent Kristin Nelson. We were a bit late getting started and I had to dash off to the event, but they followed along a few minutes later and seized the last couple of seats in the reading room.
This evening’s event was special for several reasons, all of which were unknown to my audience until they occurred.
I had two surprise assistants, young Aspergians, eight and ten years of age, respectively. I introduced my little helpers, one of whom was driven all the way from Colorado Springs. But mere introduction was not enough. They wanted more. So I brought them up to the stage, and ensconced them upon the two thrones immediately behind my podium.
They took the microphone, and we did the introductions. After that, the younger one - Alex - was content to reign over the room, while his older sidekick - Bryce - assisted me.
For the first time, at the Tattered Cover, I introduced a guest reader. Ten-year-old Bryce read the first paragraph of Look Me in the Eye to acclaim from the crowd, after which I finished the story while he stood beside me and acted out all the gestures.
Later in my talk, Bryce quietly arose from his throne and went to the desk, which the Tattered Cover staff had thoughtfully stocked with Velcro, any young Aspergian’s best friend. As I spoke and Alex gazed placidly at the crowd, Bryce velcroed everything in sight, out of sight of the crowd, in plain sight of everyone.
It was truly a magical evening. The unexpected addition of two young free range Aspergians was great. The questions from the audience were the best part of the night.
And the people from the blog world . . . Sex Scenes From Starbucks was there http://sexscenesatstarbucks.blogspot.com/ , and she was younger, blonder, and better looking than I’d been led to expect from the name. Woof. Lisa Kenney from Eudeamonia http://eudaemoniaforall.blogspot.com/ couldn’t make it, but her friend Karen came down with a book for me to sign.
I talked more about what it means to be an Aspergian, and how parents and young people should focus on their Aspergian gifts as opposed to the weaknesses, because it’s our gifts that the world needs. The world needs more geeks.
I talked about the need for compassion and understanding, and the great things we can accomplish together. And my Aspergian assistant spoke briefly of his fascination with ancient Egypt and his ability to name all the presidents, forward and backward, in order.
It was another fun night. I wish I’d made plans to stay a few more days, but I’m back home first thing in the morning.
Before I go, I have to mention one more thing . . . Denver is full of trains. Light Rail. Trolley cars, like I rode as a child in Philadelphia, updated for the 21st century. Buses too. It was such a refreshing alternative to taxis and congestion I've encountered elsewhere.
Comments
John, I will venture to say that it's more than friends who are flocking to you. You are the first person to successfully spotlight a group of people who have been either neglected or misunderstood for a very long time. You've started a movement. These aren't just friends--they're followers.
Woof. (whatever that means)
:-)
Have a safe flight - hopefully you can get some rest.
Amy MacKinnon
really, thank you so much for your book and your visit, and please keep writing.
It was a great evening. Lack of social skills??! Pfft! You handled everything beautifully. Wish we could have talked more, but you had so many fans waiting to speak with you! (Good job, Denver)
My mom immediately read half your book last night. She's loving it.
WOOF!
We had a great time last night in Denver and were so excited to see you had already blogged on it when we looked this morning! My son, Alex, was one of your assistants last night (the 8 y.o., quiet, and well-behaved one - yes, I was very proud of him). He really appreciated you speaking with him at the end of the night and getting to tell you about his love of American history and Ancient Egypt.
Just for clarification, we're from Colorado Springs,(not Colorado City), and Alex and I thought that you may have confused him as the kid that was at the desk fiddling with everything in it. That was actually Bryce, the other boy, who had also acted while you were reading, and who had read previously himself. (Alex wants you to know that he was the "good" kid. A bit of competition for your favor I'm guessing.)
It was such a positive experience for all of us and Alex really came away from it feeling good that he had met an adult that had achieved so much (rather than just reading about famous folks who are assumed to be Aspergians). BTW, why "Aspergians", instead of "Aspies"? Makes no difference to me, but I've wondered.
Thanks again, and we'll be "keeping tabs on you" in the future. Alex says we should say "woof" at the end of this, so "WOOF!"
Alex's Mom, Debbie
It's about our family, mostly about my little sister, named Courtney. She's one-year-old and we adopted her over the Summer from China. But, there's alot of posts by me on this blog, too. Just look for all the one's titled by my name, Alexander Randall - www.youbelong.net/therandalls
Also, look for more comments from me and my mom in the future, because I'd really like to keep in touch with you. Oh, and "Woof!"
K
Thanks for talking about the good stuff. I also enjoyed the 2 assistants - a bit of added entertainment.
Kim Hetherington
Colorado Springs
This sounds like a wonderful experience.
Well done, my friend :)
There is such a demand for this stuff out there. Not only for the NT to understand us better under their microscope, but for other Aspergians to say "I do that!", "That's so true!" Through your book, you are helping others with Autism to become more self aware and self confident that they can do things in the Big Bad World out there and for parent to realize that it's not the end of the world, it's just a little different then what movies and other mass media has been peddling for the last 50 years.