Another forgotten writer. And this one really is inexcusable.
Ridley was one of the first writers I interviewed after moving to the features section of the Baltimore Sun. I think the piece was assigned to me, but perhaps I lobbied for it after reading the press materials on Pearson.
At any rate, I remember it was a lovely autumn day and he was staying at the Radisson in Baltimore. For some reason, I even remember what I was wearing, a pale green dress from Banana Republic. We went to lunch or coffee for the allotted hour. Deep into the interview, I asked a question about outlining.
Ridley said: “Do you want to write?”
I admitted that I did, and had a novel in progress. He proceeded to give me all sorts of advice — enthusiastic, positive, brimming with optimism. He was very kind, but I tried to steer the conversation back to him. As a journalist, I tried to keep my aspirations secret from the writers I interviewed, for all sorts of ethical reasons. (Later, I’d be equally mum about publishing, but I began getting ratted out by publicists and media escorts.) But the very fact that Ridley was kind enough to ask, and then kind enough to be so positive, always meant a lot to me.
I’ve seen him a lot over the years, most recently at BEA in Chicago, one table away at the BookSense luncheon. He is as he always was — enthusiastic, kind, brimming with optimism.
The first author I ever interviewed was Thomas Fleming, a very prolific historical novelist and biographer. I was 24 and very taken by his charm and his books. Being so young, I did ask him about how one goes about getting published, although at the time I had only ever finished short stories that said absolutely nothing because I wasn’t old enough to know what to say yet. He was lovely and said if I ever reached the point where I would want some help, to call him. Ten years later, when I was being rejected by every agent known to mankind, I finally broke down and called him. He remembered me, said the article I’d written about him was the best and most accurate of any in his career, and steered me to his agent after reading my book. The agent didn’t end up taking that book, but did take the next one, and I owe everything to Tom and my youthful audacity.