starspray | Snowflake Challenge 10-11

Challenge #10: In your own space, talk About A Creator/Someone Who Inspired You.

I guess the idea behind this question is to name someone actually In Fandom, but you know what? I'm going to talk about Christopher Tolkien. He died just last week at 95, and if he was not his father's absolute Biggest Fan I do not know who was. He grew up immersed in Middle-earth, drew the first maps for The Lord of the Rings, and then spent his entire adult life dedicated to organizing and publishing not just The Silmarillion but all of those drafts and notes, along with commentary, so the rest of the world could see and understand and appreciate his father's imagination. The Tolkien fandom would not be what it is without his work, on both fannish and scholarly sides, and it was so clearly a labor of love (and given his dad's handwriting it was definitely at times labor). I hope that he knew how much all his work meant to so many people all around the world.

Challenge #11: In your own space, recommend a fannish or creative resource.

I tend to forget that it's there so here's a reminder to myself as well as everyone else: The SWG has a reference library with character bios and resources on everything else from fan culture to language to Germanic and world history and myth.