Laura Hillenbrand, the author of “Seabiscuit,” gave an interview
sometime after her book was written, and had sailed to the top of the
New York Times Best Seller List. I will never forget the book, or the
interview. I have long since misplaced my copy of the book, and I
haven’t been able to locate the portion of the interview which contains
the following account. As a result, it has been necessary for me to
rewrite a summary of her words from memory in order to share the
following with you tonight.
It seems that when Laura Hillenbrand was
a little girl she happened to be at the neighborhood pool one day, the
same activity I also used to enjoy. Well, after she had swam awhile, a
thunderstorm arose, and the majority of the children ran for cover into a
screened-in porch; adjacent to the pool. As the kids sat bare-legged on
the floor, a well-meaning young man, a lifeguard, offered to read the
children a poem; not just any poem, but one of the longest, and most
poignant poems of all time, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” You can
imagine that many of the children opted to collect their things, and
head off for home, in spite of the light rain and thunder. But Laura,
and a few of her young companions remained, and were soon engrossed in
the young man’s grisly tale.
The lifeguard read stanza after stanza
of the poem, and the more he read, the more horrendous and awe-inspiring
were the words. The rain fell in droves now, and it seemed to Laura
that the crack of lightning, and the boom of thunder, served to accent
the dark adjectives which so easily rolled off the young man’s lips.
You see, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” recounts the fictional
voyage of a couple hundred unfortunate sailors on an old sailing ship.
Not so different from Paul’s account in the Book of Acts, the ancient
vessel is overcome by an intense storm, but in this case, there is a
significant loss of life.
As the young fellow finished reading the
poem, and put down the book, the children seemed to sit silently for a
brief moment, as if to transcend the hundred, or so stanzas which had so
transfixed them. And then it was time to head home.
Laura picked up
her towel, and began the short walk to her house. In spite of the depth
and darkness of the subject matter, this young girl who left shallow
footprints on that old dirt road which took her home, was suddenly very
unlike the child who had sat down cross-legged on that cold tile floor.
Her very soul thrilled within her to realize, even at this young age,
what she wished to do with her life; what she had to do with her life.
As surely as the account of lightning in the old poem mirrored the
actual lightning which enveloped the afternoon sky, Laura was filled to
overflowing with insight. She would become an author.
And the
world renown author commented at the end of this particular segment of
the interview, “I never knew the name of that young man who selflessly
offered to read to a few young children on a little porch by a
neighborhood pool, but what he did for me that day, though of course he
had no way of knowing, the time and topic he shared with me that day,
well, it made all the difference in my life. I would not, could not,
have been the same person I am today. My life would not have turned out
as it has, without the momentary contribution of that selfless young
man.”
By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 27. Copyright pending
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