“I think I
decided I wanted to be a writer one summer afternoon in my childhood, when the
neighborhood pool I was swimming in was temporarily closed due to lightning. I
snatched up my towel and huddled on a big porch with the other kids; waiting
out the storm.
The lifeguard sat down on a plastic lawn chair near me, brought out an
illustrated copy of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and offered to read it.
Most of the kids left, but two or three of us stayed to listen, sitting
cross-legged on the floor around him. As he read, I fell so deeply into the
narrative that the thunderstorm around me seemed to be rushing out of the words
themselves.
My head was
ringing with those words as I walked home. I never knew the name of this young man or anything about him, but I
never really got over that day, and his momentary influence had everything to do with
the career I ultimately chose to pursue. "
(Paraphrase of an interview of Laura Hillenbrand, author of "Seabiscuit")
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