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Ich Bin Ein Chaletian
Jun. 15th, 2011 12:24 pmI don't think I ever came out as a fan of the Chalet School books; I don't think I ever had to. I was born out. (This has also been said in other contexts. Never mind.)
But when I was a boy I read them because I read everything, it was an expression of normality; the odd thing would have been to spurn a book unread. And then when I was a young man I wrote for children, so of course I had to read children's books; and then it was just a mild eccentricity, an aspect of my charm. Everybody has something. Karen has Star Trek, Seanan has My Little Pony; I have the Chalet School.
I'm not alone. Chalet School fandom has burgeoned, in the last twenty years; but you do find random fans all over. My good friend Val McDermid, f'rexample: devoted Chaletian. Currently making a documentary about the books, for BBC Radio 4.
Which is why I just spent half an hour (you knew there had to be a point, didn't you?) in a cubicle at a Stanford University studio, talking to Val through the miracles of technology while she was five thousand miles away. Listing all eleven of Joey Maynard's children, in order. I guess that's a party trick of sorts; I didn't even know I could do it.
But when I was a boy I read them because I read everything, it was an expression of normality; the odd thing would have been to spurn a book unread. And then when I was a young man I wrote for children, so of course I had to read children's books; and then it was just a mild eccentricity, an aspect of my charm. Everybody has something. Karen has Star Trek, Seanan has My Little Pony; I have the Chalet School.
I'm not alone. Chalet School fandom has burgeoned, in the last twenty years; but you do find random fans all over. My good friend Val McDermid, f'rexample: devoted Chaletian. Currently making a documentary about the books, for BBC Radio 4.
Which is why I just spent half an hour (you knew there had to be a point, didn't you?) in a cubicle at a Stanford University studio, talking to Val through the miracles of technology while she was five thousand miles away. Listing all eleven of Joey Maynard's children, in order. I guess that's a party trick of sorts; I didn't even know I could do it.