I realize I am giving away my age, but if not for that, the "mists of time" quality of the story would be lost. I came to know LOTR as a teenager, just before the big outbreak of Tolkien fandom in the 60s. I had a book-lover's dream job: After school I worked in the small town public library.

In a sunny area next to the Adult Fiction was a lounge, where on quiet afternoons a few town elders would sit and read. A particularly professorial-looking gentleman sometimes read there. I, of course, never spoke to these folks, but continued my work keeping the books in order. In fact, I rarely went to Adult Fiction as a reader, choosing my reading instead from Science Fiction or Science.

One day for no apparent reason, this gentleman called me over to speak. "You know," he said, "You really should read these Lord of the Rings books. I think you would like them." I was certainly familiar with the slightly worn blue-bound books, having made certain that that shelf, like every other, was totally correct and straightened. But I never thought that anything, well, "exciting" could be in Adult Fiction. However, being inquiring of mind, I took his advice and read them, for the first of now many times.

Funny thing... I do not recall seeing or speaking to this man after that. I had, of course, been truly been "blown away" by the books, and I probably would have thanked him for the recommendation. However, it seems as though he just never came back...

–Violet Moria

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