Happy Eleventy-First Birthday

[Joseph DeMartino]

Remember to stop by your local version of the Prancing Pony or the Green Dragon and raise a pint to "the Professor".

Today would have marked J.R.R. Tolkien's Eleventy-First birthday (111), "a very curious number and a very respectable age for a Hobbit."

/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Regards,

Joe

 

[Sinclair]

Some people really are celebrating his birthday. I hope people are doing that for me after I'm long gone. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Right, so wherever you are at 9 PM PST (12 AM EST, 5 AM January 5th GMT) make sure you stop and raise a glass. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jomar]

Too bad he couldn't have lived long enough to see the Peter Jackson version of LOTR. I wonder if he would have been pleased with the result.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

I suspect he would have been pleased with the films, in the main. I have a copy of The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkein and it contains a number of letters he wrote concerning what eventually became the Ralph Bakshi film, which he was kept aprised of starting at the script stage. He makes it clear that he understands that film is a different medium than books, and that certain changes and simplifications must inevitably be made in the transition. Given the things he (rightly) attacks in the script for the animated version, I think he would have appreciated Jackson's attempt to hold to the spirit of the books while making a trio of good films that people who had never read the books would be able to enjoy.

Regards,

Joe

 

[RW7427]

I'll be at work, so it will have to be a can of Pepsi out of the vending machine in the breakroom. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GKarsEye]

I love how the article credits the films for spawning these celebrations of his birthday. People have been doing that for a long time.

I will have a drink in his honor tonight.