Jean Rabe

Sorry to hear today of the death of Jean Rabe.  Jean was head of the R. P. G. A. when I first came on board at TSR (in October  1987 I think it was). My first contacts there were actually through the book department (via friend Jim Lowder) and the RPGA (then the domain of Jean, ably assisted by Skip Williams).  

That first discussion with Jean of a job at TSR didn't pan out due to my (a) living in Milwausee at the time and (b) not having a car. Instead I helped out with various tournaments and the like (e.g. providing sets of pregenerated characters for sanctioned events). A few months later I was more successful, joining the R&D department as a game editor, along with fellow 'new fish' Rich Baker (designer), Thomas Reid (editor), and a few weeks later Tim Beach (RPGA).

Through the chaos that was what we might call mid-period TSR, Jean ruled over her own fiefdom, acting pretty much independently of R&D (e.g. the Living City/Raven's Bluff project). If I rember rightly (eventually the comings and goings get conflated) she had moved over into R&D and later still was one of those who decided not to follow TSR to the west coast. 

If I had to sum up Jean in a word, it would be Kindness. Rest in peace.

  

So, how easy is it to spot the common thread in this list of names?

 

Andria Heyday

Anne Brown

Karen Boomgarden

Dori Watri

Julia Martin

Jean Rabie

Barb Young

Sue Weinlein

Carrie Bebris

 

2026 Calendar

So, another year, another Tolkien calender. A while back I went back and sorted them by year. It made quite a pile, and the shift of style from year to year is interesting. My favorite, after those by Tolkien himself (esp the early ones),  is the 1994 one by Michael Kaluta, which had a Finnish look to me.  Which is not to say there have not been some God-awful examples over the years (the Hildebrants come to mind). 

This year (2026) features another by Alan Lee, who has a distinctive style, providing a sort of continuity. Lee is not only good but had the advantage that Christopher liked him.

My own vote for an artist (contempory if now somewhat long in the tooth)  to illustrate JRRT is Thomas Canty, whose art reminds me strongly of art nouveau  and art deco:  Many of his pieces look like stained glass windows. Underrated.

Other than that, I saw THE BOVADIUM FRAGMENTS on the shelves of a mainstream bookstore (Barnes & Noble) today, which makes me think we're approaching the saturation point for works by Tolkien.  I intend to enjoy it while I can.

--current reading: five books, the least interesting of whch is A. A. Milne's ONCE UPON A TIME (1922), an attempt by the Pooh author to  write a fairy tale for adults. Milne had many talents, but it turns out writing a book like this one is not one of them. This sarcastic nudge-nudge wink-wink of a book deserves all the strictures Tolkien made on Milne in OFS.

--John R

A Middle-earth Sea Shanty

So, a bit belatedly, thanks to the friend who pointed me towards this link:  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmwAqVqgx0U

It's fun to see a version of Earendil's story in sea-shanty style, as opposed to the filk-sinc-y style of most such performances.  Fun, if you like this sort of thing. Which I do, on the whole

--John R

An Eight Word Review of Pullman's (672 page) New Book

 "They paved Paradise and  put up a parking lot"

An Annotated GODS OF PEGANA

So, yesterday I came across a new edition of Dunsany's first book, THE GODS OF PEGANA (original edition 1905, this edition 2012).  What I cd put together about it from some quick online searching was a bit uncertain, but here's what I cd find on it so far.

Put together by a Robert J. Schulenburg, whose work is otherwise unknown to me. It is said to be the first book in a series to be known as The Reader's Library of Inspirational Books; I have not yet tracked down any other volumes in the series.

Whether this has any linkage with Dolly Parton's Inspiration Library I can't say yet.  

 This edition for the Kindle includes promises it includes additional material:

-An Introduction to the series

-The biographical essay, 'Lord Dunsany: Badass Patriarch of High Fantasy'

-An original article, 'Dunsany's Chess' detailing the rules for the chess variant created by the author

-High quality formatting and interactive Table Of Contents for Kindle users

Future editions of this volume will include (and will be added to [my] purchase free of charge):

-The essay: "Writing A Bible- Scripture As Narrative And Fiction, And Why We Would Confuse It For Fantasy

-Table of Influenced & Influences

-A Lexicon of gods and prophets in the Peganan cosmology

-The chapters in summary (a distillation of the themes and messages of each Book)

-A timeline of the Peganan cosmology

-A map of the cosmology of Pegana

-Hiqh quality original illustrations

I have to say that this looks like a random assortment for things connected with Dunsany.

I've ordered a copy and shd have more information about the book after the book arrives.

--John R,

current reading: THE SECRET COMMONWEALTH (just out)  by Phillip Pullman. A re-reading and a disappointment.  And a complete collection of short stories by Aleister Crowley of short stories featuring Simon Iff, his psychic detectiv (re-reading; not as good the second time around).

Till We Have Faces

 So,  just a brief reminder that this is on its way, if still a few months dfistant

Here's what's been released so far

A world premiere retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche.

When Psyche is sacrificed to appease the gods, her sister Orual—the future warrior queen—ventures to give her a proper burial. But Psyche is not dead, and she believes she’s living a life Orual cannot see. What follows is a powerful, mythic journey through love, beauty, faith, doubt, and the bonds of sisterhood.

--John R