After the SCBWI conference -- which was beyond wonderful -- I posted that I was sad that the final keynoter, Jon Scieszka, used the "r" word in his talk. He and I are of similar generations and that was a word we used back then. But like riding in cars without seatbelts or playing with the mercury out of broken thermometers, it was something best left back in the old days. I heard from some people that they also had felt hurt and surprised by this word choice. And I realized it wasn't fair of me to post my thoughts here without sharing them with Jon.
Which I did this morning. And to which he graciously and promptly replied. He thanked me for bring it to his attention, writing, "I would not want an ill-advised word choice like that to hurt anyone." Class act, that. He deserves an ambassador's salaam. And I deserve to be called a knucklehead for airing my grumble here before checking in with him first.
Good for both of you!
ReplyDeleteps: Read LOTTERY, by Patricia Wood
I will absolutely read it.
ReplyDeleteLife is about learning, n'est pas?
I kinda like that you shared this though. The words bothered me too, and I'm happy to hear he was gracious about your critique. That is indeed classy of him. And of you.
ReplyDeleteVery brave of you, Kirby. I'm sure it bothered many of us, but you were the one who stepped up and said something. I'm sure he's glad you did.
ReplyDelete