Meeting Enid Blyton?

[Kitty]

What if you had been disappointed, any of you? What if she had been less than you expected? I think it's almost inevitable that that might happen if you truly admire someone and then find out that they were merely human after all

Yeah, I agree with this. I went to a talk given by an author whose work I loved, and spoke to him afterwards, and I actually never read or bought anything he wrote after that! I can't explain it - he a was pleasant man, and the talk was ok, but I still wish I hadn't gone.

[Moose]

Who was it, if you don't mind my asking?

[Kitty]

Who was it, if you don't mind my asking?

I know it sounds hopelessly precious, but I'd rather not say. I'd feel like a bit of a traitor, since I got a lot of pleasure from his books at one time, and really did like him a lot. He wasn't a children's writer though.

[Moonraker]

What if you had been disappointed, any of you? What if she had been less than you expected? I think it's almost inevitable that that might happen if you truly admire someone and then find out that they were merely human after all

I'd better make the effort to meet you then, Moosie!

Seriously, I know what you mean, but I am certain that meeting Enid wouldn't have been a disappointment.

[jen]

*looks round for lynch mob*

Didn't I read in a paper or something that she wasn't a terribly "hands-on" mother? I might be wrong but if that was the case the I wouldn't want to meet her - when I was little I used to wish I was one of her children and I don't want to shatter my own illusions iykwim

[Anna Moss]

has anyone been lucky enough to have met enid? if you could would you or would you be scared?

I'd be jolly scared
I'd probobly scream if she said one single word to me!

[vonhugh-Gabrielle]

I really like to meet her in person if I could.

But then I am sure I will be so tongue-tied!

Anyway it will be so good if I could get to take a photo with her and have her signature on it.

[Ming]

I would like to meet Enid, and I am pretty certain that it won't be a disappointment.

Though I sometimes doubt this fact.

[Moonraker]

It is often a disappointment to meet a famous person. It can easily shatter your illusions, too. Agatha Christie hated meeting people. She used to say one of the reasons she became a writer was to avoid the public!

[Almas]

I would like to meet Enid, and I am pretty certain that it won't be a disappointment.

Though I sometimes doubt this fact.

Hey - but I always thought that she loved children.

[Moonraker]

I love Chicken Madras, but I don't want to meet a load of chickens...

[Almas]

But then - I did read that Enid got thousands of letters each year and in fact she replied to them all. So, she must be a most friendly and loving woman indeed.

I would have loved to met her.

[Anita Bensoussane]

If I'd had the opportunity of meeting Enid Blyton, I wouldn't have been able to resist! However, while she built up a real rapport with her fans - especially in letters, where she could keep at some distance from them - Enid Blyton wasn't always as warm towards her own children as one might imagine. Her younger daughter Imogen in particular speaks of her emotional coldness. Enid's relationship with her own mother had been difficult, and at some point Enid broke ties with her mother completely. She did a similar thing with first husband Hugh Pollock after their divorce, denying him access to daughters Gillian and Imogen and making it look in her autobiography as if her second husband, Kenneth, was the girls' father. She also had a vengeful streak, taking revenge on a number of real-life acquaintances by featuring them as "baddies" in her stories. Having said all that, it's undeniable that Enid Blyton has done a huge amount of good for children, encouraging them to do their best and do their bit for society. She has undoubtedly been a positive influence on many young lives. The best of her is to be found in her stories, where we see her promoting courage, justice, loyalty, kindliness and honesty, and in her magazines, through which she raised an enormous amount of money for charities which helped children and animals. She was a complex character, difficult to fathom. I'd still like to have met her and asked her about her favourite books and characters, her garden and things like that, but I'd have avoided asking, "And how are the family?"!

Enid Blyton has been an inspiration and a big part of my life. Like everyone, she had both positive and negative qualities and we can admire what she achieved while at the same time acknowledging and accepting that she wasn't superhuman.

Anita

[Julie2owlsdene]

I would loved to have met Enid also. She was part of my childhood and I lived inside her books. But I do have to agree with Anita's posting. I have the book, by Imogen, A Childhood at Greenhedges, and felt saddened when I read it. Such an insecure lonely child.
But her mother was a brilliant writer and children all over the world adored her and still read her books.

[vonhugh-Gabrielle]

For me, how she lived had nothing to do with her ingenuity in writing children stories; if she was nominated as the perfect mother, then how she treated her family will be important.

Everyone has good marks and bad marks in his/ her life, and there is no exception at all, not even Enid Blyton, right?

I just hope to meet Enid Blyton, my favourite children-story author, my idol.

And that's all.