I'm still mourning the death of Brian Jacques

Despite the fact that I've only ever met Brian Jacques twice in my life and despite the fact that I haven't read one of his books since I was probably ten or eleven, I find that I still have moments where I am totally overwhelmed with sadness as his passing.

I've posted previously about how Redwall was the first book I ever loved, the first series that made me imagine myself in the world of the characters.  So the series and its author will always have a special place in my memory.

When I was doing research for my dissertation this morning, I was going through a book called Battling Dragons:  Issues and controversy in children's literature.  I noticed that there was a chapter written by Brian Jacques.  I had to read it.  The conclusion of his chapter was very moving.  He wrote:

"What do I want from the future?  What any good author wants I suppose--to leave footprints in the sands of time.  By that I mean, in years to come when I am no longer here, some child will take from a library shelf a dog-eared book of mine, without an attractive dust jacket, and read it with enjoyment.  How presumptuous of me!  The sort of thing just does not happen to someone with a name like Brian Jacques, who attended Saint Johns Elementary School in Kirkdale, Liverpool."  (p. 219)

He wasn't presumptuous.  I am certain that his hope for the future is being realized.