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 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.”
Paraphrase of a Laura Hillenbrand interview by William McDonald, PhD
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