A Note ...

Octavia E. Butler 1947 - 2006
(She died outside of her home on February 24, 2006, at the age of 58. She died of head injuries after falling and striking her head on her walkway. wikipedia)

You called to me on a day that I needed to escape. A day filled with the hustle of corporate life and the concrete jungle; my only solace to be found between the aisles of the Queens Central Library. I hesitated for a moment wondering if I was ready to receive the gift you were about to bestow. Taking the chance, the wrapping and bows came undone and was I transported ... (first trip) back to a time before Emancipation to understand the dynamics of slavery and what it actually took to be a slave ... (second trip) lightyears into the future to a world devasted by a nuclear holocaust and aliens that travel in a self sustaining ship needing to breed. Ironically , it was up to a black woman to repopulate the earth ... (third trip) Vampires. I hung onto your every word, always ready to discover new worlds . . . .over and over.
Today, it seems for young people to discover you, we have to sort through the bins piled high with "ghetto fiction" in order to discover your literary gems. I have no problem being a gatekeeper to your literary world. All it takes is one.