Last Letter from the Long Patrol- (my memories of Brian Jacques)

(Redwall art (c) Blur Studio)

Brian Jacques, the author of the Redwall fantasy series, as well as other acclaimed books, passed away last weekend. Though it might be hard to tell from my books, aside from Pirate School of course, he was one of my favorite storytellers and among the most influential authors in my life. I spent most of the summer of 1998 living in Redwall Abbey, reading seven or so of the books in that short period. I also had the good fortune to meet Brian Jacques on two occasions.

My first encounter with Redwall occurred in the Spring of 1998. It was my last semester at NYU and I landed an internship with Philomel, the Putnam imprint that publishes Redwall in the US. Never being much of a fantasy reader up to that point, I didn't pay much attention to the series until I found out Brian Jacques was coming to the office for a visit. This was the first author I would ever meet and figured I'd better read something by him. I read Pearls of Lutra, a book that was in advanced reader copies at that point. I was captivated at once and poured through the book two days before he showed up in the offices. He was there to fulfill a Make a Wish Foundation event, one little boy's wish was to meet him. I was lucky enough to be in the room for that meeting and witnessed this man's remarkable impact on his readers.

Later that night, my boss had a Redwall Feast at her house in Hyde Park and to my shock, I was invited. Anyone who has read the series knows how important food and feasts are to the characters at Redwall. To be part of a feast, prepared by Brian Jacques using recipes from the books (or as near as to be edible) was amazing. As the night went on, he truly was the center of attention. There were about forty people there, all adults and all sitting on the floor around him like schoolchildren as he told one hilarious story after the other. By the end of the night, he'd taken a likening to me because of my name and because we were both smoking Dunhill cigarettes (he was chain smoker, at least at this point in his life). That night has always been a special memory for me and I tore through the books over the next few months.

The next time I met Brian Jacques was during a book signing he did on the Upper East Side of Manhattan back when I was living there. Anyone who ever saw him do a reading knows what a great show he put on. Having been a voice actor, he really made the stories come to life when he read. Afterwards, I waited in line to get my copies of Redwall and Mariel of Redwall (my favorite of the series) signed. This was years after the party and I reminded him of it. He asked what I was doing and I told him I was working at Scholastic and he groaned as this was around the time Harry Potter had stolen the Redwall thunder. I told him, as I told everybody who loved Harry Potter at that time, that Harry was no Martin. We both shared a laugh.

The stories of Redwall to this day remain among my all time favorites. The combination of humor, adventure, and character told in breathtaking literary style challenged an industry that tends to dumb-down literature for young readers. Brian Jacques did the opposite. He elevated his tales into profound works of art that used dialect, poetry, and beautiful descriptive language to build epics of classical proportion while never losing sight of the joyous experience reading should be. He may be gone, but his stories will forever be with us.

Woodpigeons cooed within the dimness of woodland depths, bees hummed and grasshoppers chafed out on the sunlit flatlands. Mariel began skipping, twirling Gullwhacker at her side, suddenly filled with a sense of freedom and adventure. What better than to travel alone, eat when you please, rest when you fell the need, camp by your own little fire at night and sleep snug in some forest glade! The feeling flooded through her with such force that it made her light-headed, and she began singing aloud an old playsong, known to mice everywhere.

"The winter O, the winter O,

With cold and dark and driving snow,

O not for me the winter O,

My friend I tell you so.

In spring the winds do sport and play,

And rain can teem down anyday,

While autumn oft is misty gray,

My friend hear what I say.

When summer sunlight comes each morn,

The birds sing sweet each golden dawn,

And flow'rs get kissed by every bee,

While shady stands the tree.

The summer O, the summer O,

Amid its golden peace I go,

From noon to lazy evening glow.

My friend I told you so.

(from Mariel of Redwall)

Warriors Come Out And Play

I've always been a sucker for violent talking animal fantasy dating back to when I first read Watership Down in seventh grade. That was the first book I ever read that really transported me into another world that was fully illuminated in my mind. I've been drawn to the genre ever since.

In college, I interned at Philomel Books, the publisher of the Redwall series by Brian Jacques and I devoured all of those books one after the other. I became enraptured by the mythology contained within those pages and was obsessed with tracking the history of Redwall Abby from Luke to Martin and beyond.

This past weekend, I discovered another such fantasy that completely blew me away. My friend, and roomate during my Redwall days, is fully aware of my love for the type and had lent me a comic book called Mice Templar a few months ago after I flipped through it at his place and was thoroughly impressed by the art. I had no idea at the time just how epic the scope of the story would be.

The book follows a young mouse named Karic who struggles to become a hero and save his enslaved family and friends from the tyranny of the Mouse King who has employed the standard animal enemies of rats and weasels to inflict his reign of terror upon the land. I know what you're thinking...aren't they all.

Beyond the action though, what the story does so well is include an sprawling mythology and legend without ever feeling overblown or losing the reader. The art is pretty intense, brutal at times-beautiful at others, but still manages to maintain a children's book aesthetic, which really appealed to me. It's very much a picture book for adults in a way that no other comic I've encountered. It's takes the next step and really illustrates the horror of the horribles.

I don't know why it is that sword wielding mice always get to me when a human counterparts would not, but they do. Perhaps it's because in our society it's easier to assign their heroic attributes to these animals as we've grown cynical about the ability of truly heroic acts in people. Or perhaps it's just because the pure fiction of it appeals to that inner child that wants a magical story.

Back when I was doing that internship, I was lucky enough to meet Brian Jacques at an informal party in the home of my boss. He'd spent the whole day cooking a Redwall feast (if you've read the books, you know those animals are always eating). Then, at one point during the evening, he began telling stories. I remember, at 21 years old, sitting on the floor with other adults and listening to him talk for hours. Suddenly, we were all little kids at story hour again. It was one of those pinpoint moments in my life when I knew there was nothing else in the world I wanted to do but tell stories that held attention like that.

Over the past year and a half, I've been drawn more and more to this kind of BIG story. I've been actively working on several different ones. To that list, I'm now adding another. There's been an idea floating around in my head for quite some time involving this kind of warring animal saga. Reading Mice Templar, and feeling that same stirring as when I read Redwall and Watership Down, I knew it was time to return to it and do some serious thinking on the matter. I just love encountering books that instill that kind of inspiration. As a writer, I'm lucky enough to have the opportunity to return the favor. It's the duty of our trade.