Old Friends

I love it when intuition clearly guides me in a way that I cannot deny. This afternoon, on the way home from errands in town, I felt a strong inclination to stop at our local library and check the discarded book section. We frequently find treasures among the donated and discarded books, so it wasn't a big stretch to follow intuition's lead this time. What was a big surprise, however, was the face gazing out from the trolley. None other than R. D. Laing on the cover of his book, Knots. This book and I became friends in 1969 when I was working as a secretary in Portland, Oregon. Earning barely enough to make ends meet, I often stopped at a gift shop/bookstore on my lunch hour to admire the items on display that I couldn't afford. The owner of the shop didn't seem to mind that I was there nearly every day and looked the other way when I carefully picked up and read from Laing's book every time I visited the shop. Laing's words were magical and gave me much-needed grounding and perspective. Having recently returned from a year at university and working in Italy, I was looking for direction. R. D. Laing's unique prose was a balm for my irritated nervous system and seemed to offer answers to questions I barely knew that I was asking. His words were a quiet murmur confirming my own thoughts and feelings at the time. The cover photo of the author also reminded me of an actor, Dirk Bogarde, who had captured my heart when I was in junior high school, I fell in love with the character he played in the movie, "Tale of Two Cities," by Charles Dickens. I had read the book in grade school and felt a strong affinity for the character Sydney Carton, played by Dirk Bogarde in the 1958 movie. What a reunion! The book, the author, the movie, the actor, all old friends. 

Dirk Bogarde as Sydney Carton