Russell's affection for Tolkien

Hi everyone, it's Janet again. Today I finally got a collector's edition, one-volume copy of the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkien, and it reminded me of my Dad.

Dad loved to talk about the LOTR books. Whenever he got irritated at my incompetent attempts to write about nature, he'd tell me to go and give the Tolkien books another spin; he thought that Tolkien was a master at clearly depicting landscapes and geography. Dad told us on more than one occasion that in his younger days, he had read the trilogy out loud to groups of friends more than 3 times! The whole thing!

I also remember that when I was in 6th grade, a boy had asked me on a "date" to go and see the Fellowship of the Ring movie. Dad said that he wouldn't let me go until I had read the books - truly bizarre, considering that I had never been grounded and in almost all matters I had an absolutely free rein. But not when it came to Tolkien! Dad held firm on that.

So, I read the books (not really, I didn't pay much attention and I skipped over most of The Two Towers), and Dad said that I could go -- but he came along and sat in the row of seats right behind me and my date!