Ruth
Anyone who knows me knows that I love The Dragonriders of Pern books. Especially the first big trilogy, and of that… the final book of The White Dragon.
Carl, from Stainless Steel Droppings, took my fanaticism for these books, one step farther. Unknown to me Carl had found an old used copy of the White Dragon and upon going to a convention of Artists ( Spectrum Fantastic Art Live ) brought it with him and approached the artist, who’s work I highly admire, and who did the most fantastic cover art ever for my favorite book, and proceeded to tell him of this lady he knows who thinks the world of the book and especially the artwork on the cover…
![drag4[1]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mHzUqtfEc1M/T8IVZUdzntI/AAAAAAAADBo/2L_7962pQoY/s1600-h/drag413.jpg "drag4[1]")
… then he had Michael Whelan sign the inside of the book!
![drag2[1]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-HymfJtlErc8/T8IVccaYkEI/AAAAAAAADB4/bojzymD8u0c/s1600-h/drag213.jpg "drag2[1]")
(a closer look in case you can’t read it…)
![drag3[1]](http://lh4.ggpht.com/-JEByYh6PcOU/T8IVfCJ11jI/AAAAAAAADCI/UnTOiflGhnA/s1600-h/drag313.jpg "drag3[1]")
I cannot thank Carl enough and although I phoned him immediately after the mailman delivered it,… i still can’t thank him enough!
Not only did he do this wonderful thing but he wrote me about his experience meeting Michael Whelan and talking to him… I have to say… it made me cry. It brought back so many wonderful memories I have to meeting people like Michael, that I admire and how utterly fantastic it felt inside when they took time to speak to me, and for me to find out they are as nice as I could ever hope them to be.
I used to get those feelings each and every time I went to an autograph show ..each time I met someone that took a few minutes of their time to make me feel important that I was there and speaking with them. Let me tell you .. to someone who has spent their life feeling worthless and meaningless…. they blow my mind away.
I am more than a bit envious that Carl had such a magnificent time and has made some outstanding memories for himself.
Thank you Carl. And I am very happy that I was the reason you got to spend more time with Michael Whelan!
(below: many, MANY, years ago I attempted to copy Michaels fine art work of Ruth, the White Dragon, on to a 36x34 piece of material and then embroider the whole thing! It took me several months to do this and as you can see thread makes it loose a lot, including Jaxom (the rider) not quite being in proportion but hey..Ruth looks good and that’s the important part! lol.
![pern-2[1]](http://lh3.ggpht.com/-ScXvhswgGBA/T8IVkI0o5OI/AAAAAAAADCY/ekKWit_spYg/s1600-h/pern213.jpg "pern-2[1]")
I will cherish my signed Michael Whelan book… and think of Carl each time I look at it.
posted by DesLily | 7:52 AM
13 Comments:
OMG!!! I'm crying, I'm soooo happy for you Pat <3 That is so touching.
Carl, you're the man!
Oh, Pat...How incredibly wonderful of Carl...! Such a treasure for you, my dear.
And what YOU did is quite Amazing!!!
I'm so very happy for you, dear Pat.
How wonderful, Pat! Carl really is a great guy. :)
almost as good as being there yourself!
I'm speechless, Pat. What a wonderful thing for Carl to do. I know how much this means to you.
kelly: an he kept the secret well until it arrived! lol
naomi: my kids were young when I made that! it took me several months to cover that much material.
hey Kelly: yeah pretty damn nice!!!
Pam: almost.. lol
cath: thanks Cath..it was a shocker to say the least!
I had an incredible time pulling that off and it was an immense pleasure to do it. The very first thing I did up on entering the three-day convention was to go and talk to Michael to have him sign this book. Although we had two nice conversations that day, I didn't have him sign anything for me until Saturday because I wanted to just enjoy the experience of having this signed for you. So much fun.
And I'm thrilled that I was able to keep my mouth shut (it was difficult) until after this arrived. In fact I held off posting about my fanboy moments because I didn't want to spill the beans, so expect a more detailed post..or posts...next week about my geek-out experiences at the show.
Thrilled it arrived safely and quickly.
carl: I am thrilled with it ! and now i'm envious that you had time with Michael LOL
What an amazing gift! Carl is so generous with his energy and his time. We are blessed by his presence in our Fantasy,SciFi community.
gavin...he's a man who really listens to people when they say something..that's an unusual trait anymore.
This is so amazing Pat!!!!! Carl is just the sweetest man!! Oh I know you will treasure this forever! So happy for you :)
That's fantastic! I adored those covers, too. I remember just poring over them when I was reading the books, wishing I could see the original artwork. Aren't those books great?
A very special gift for a very special lady!
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