A recollection of the South Carolina Academy of Authors induction ceremony for James O. Rigney, Jr. (Robert Jordan) that I attended two weeks ago has been posted on “Robert Jordan’s Official Blog” over at the esteemed dragonmount.com. The touching write-up is by Wilson, Jim’s brother/cousin, whom I may have met that night without realizing it.
At any rate, Wilson’s posting is interesting not only for revealing his personal experience of the night (click here to read my own), but also for including a number of photos of the event (the first I’ve seen) and a few videos that have been posted on YouTube. (I’d seen that a young gentleman in the front row was holding a video camera; I didn’t imagine that would translate to world-wide access, though!)
The videos only go up through the end of my speech, which is unfortunate since Marjory Wentworth, the state’s poet laureate, gave a lovely speech after mine that I would have liked to hear once more.
Though I’m directly posting the videos of my speech here, don’t let that stop you from heading over to reading Wilson’s words and watch the rest of the videos.
(Don’t worry, the second video is only the last minute or two of my speech — I’m not sure why it is split thus, but I’m not complaining.)
That’s a wonderful speech, Michael.
Thanks, Mary. I wish I’d not been so darn nervous. I’ve given many speeches, and I’ve never been that butterflied before!
Quite the amazing speech sir! Excellent job!