Bellairs fan Alex de Luca dropped us a note today to share a story of his radio run-in with author
Daniel Handler – aka Lemony Snicket, the author of the popular
A Series of Unfortunate Events stories:
Handler was on a radio show in my area this last Friday (Oct.22). He was charming, witty, playfully sardonic, funny and satirical. A great interviewee. It was a call in show so I, of course, rang the station. I was astounded to have my call answered on the first try and even more so to get to ask my question with no more than two minutes of being on hold. Naturally, being a fan of Bellairs/Strickland and Gorey, my question followed suit. It's well documented that Snicket/Handler is a huge Gorey fan. I mentioned that Gorey's inspiration in his work was clear. He even went on to say that he visited Gorey's house after he died (his house being a tourist attraction now). He put to rest the rumor that Gorey's house has a tree growing through it. It does not. I then asked him if he ever drew any inspiration from one of Gorey's young adult novel associates: John Bellairs. He mentioned that he actually didn't start reading Bellairs until he was an adult. He went on to express, rather emphatically, and with a suggestion of regret, that he could not BELIEVE that he missed out on Bellairs as a youth. Finally he mentioned his immense respect for Bellairs and that he has nothing but good things to say about him.
So there you go. Lemony Snicket – 25 million books and counting – likes Bellairs.
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