PEORIA -- Here's a terrific piece from Mike Foster about Phil Farmer, internationally known author and Peoria resident who died this week at age 91.
"All fantasy writing is about working out the 'What ifs?'"
Phil Farmer said that while discussing his novel '"To Your Scattered Bodies Go" with my Illinois Central College Fantasy Literature class 30 years ago.
I noted the 'What if' thrill I got in high school reading his "The Alley God" about the last surviving Neanderthal man living alone in a home-made shack down by the tracks outside...my gosh, is that Bartonville?
Phil's conversation was deep and droll, liable to leap from Hollywood to Valhalla. One of the most well-read men I've met, he used his knowledge to twinkle, not to dazzle.
Visiting his house was like stepping into a miniature Rivendell full of wonders and tales of them. Bette his wife's hospitality matched his gregariousness perfectly.
What if a bookish boy from Peoria Central could write his way to international renown and modest fortune?
What if he moved back from California, kept on writing, founded a local Sherlock Homes Society, and enjoyed a long and genial life, befriended by many, just famous enough?
Working out all the 'What ifs?' Phillip Jose Farmer did that very well indeed.
Mike Foster, Metamora
Wow -- beautifully written!
-- Elaine Hopkins
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