Had lunch yesterday with Robin Brande. Robin is a member of the pack of wolves with gentle spirits and lethal hands (aka the Kajukembo dojo) that was one of the many similar packs of wolves that raised my daughter. As I think about it, Lizzie really was raised by a very large and very extended family of many loving adults. But there may be none that surpasses her dojo family for the ongoing nurturing of having a dozen or so older brothers and sisters looking out for you. And ok, they taught her some lethal moves that she has already used in her young life, mostly to peel drunks off her friends.
Robin is a novelist - she is about to be the biggest thing to hit the teen scene, which is so cool! You can check out her stuff at www.RobinBrande.com - her book is about a teenaged girl trying to reconcile Darwin’s science with her fundamentalist upbringing, to deal with the controversy over teaching evolution. With a topic like that, you can well imagine it will be released this summer to major fanfare, and the pre-release buzz is already incredible. This book is going to kick butt. (I’ll tell you all more once I’ve read it, which I am hoping to do soon!)
Robin was regaling us with stories of her book tour, and sharing how Lizzie has helped her understand some of the details us old folk will never be hip enough to know - like what music different teenagers might listen to, what movies they might love. Behind every good teen writer there should certainly be a cadre of young people, keeping them honest.
Then we talked about my book, and our work, our travel, the Institute, the fact that finally, yes finally, I have a blog.
By the end of lunch, Robin said we had worn her out. We laughed. “We make people tired,” we told her. “It’s our motto.” To which Robin instructed, “You need to blog about that! We Make People Tired - I love it!”
So Robin, I have done so! Tonight, in particular, I’ve made me tired. Time to go read a bit more in Taylor Branch’s amazing MLK / Civil Rights story and then hit the sack. Good night, all!
