Kate meets Roy Blount, Jr. , eats lunch with him and lives to tell about it

We got a call from Kate this morning. The writer, Roy Blount, Jr., was going to make an appearance at PC as part of their cultural enrichment program. Kate was very excited and wanted to ask me if I had any questions for Mr. Blount. I tried to call Kate before the appearance but missed her.

However, as I was putting $20.00 worth of gas in my car (not much by way of quantity), I received a call on my cellphone from Kate in which she informed me that she was to have lunch with Mr. Blount in a few minutes. She asked me, again, if I had any questions for Mr. Blount.

About an hour later, Kate called me to inform me that she had not only eaten with Mr. Blount, but had sat at the lunch table, directly between Mr. Blount and President Griffith of PC. To say that she was enamored with the speaker and simply covered up with chills from her opportunity to sit and eat in such proximity to him, is clearly an understatement. Dare I say it: chill bumpy.

When she first called me, the conversation went something like this:

"Daddy?"

"Kate?"

A long pause more pithy and meaty than any Pinter pause.

"I ate with Roy Blount, Jr."

"I know Kate. How was it?"

Second significant pause.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Kate."

"I sat between Roy Blount Jr and Doctor Griffith."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

Soft squeal from Clinton, South Carolina. Something like air releasing from a balloon.

"Daddy?"

"Yes?"

"He's met Dr. Hunter S. Thompson."

At this point I might point out that when meeting a famous author, it is probably not politic to ask him whether he has met another famous author, who is not even in the room.

"How was lunch, Kate?"

"It was unbelievable."

At this point, the flood of words and memories began to flow from Clinton, South Carolina to Griffin, via satellite. Apparently, Mr. Blount was fantastic. He had traveled to Havana in the past few years. Made a rather witty statement about Havana which sounded a bit like a line from a Jimmy Webb song, but that Kate thought sounded exactly like her daddy.

At this point, I suppose I could take the compliment for what it was. However, I would like to point out that Roy Blount, Jr. was born in Indianapolis and moved to Dekalb County, Georgia, where he grew up, and from which point he matriculated to Vanderbilt, where he was an English major. Kate's daddy, on the other hand, was born in Kentucky, moved to Indianapolis, ultimately moved to Dekalb County, Georgia, where he grew up and from which point he matriculated to Washington and Lee University, where he was an English major. Perhaps there is not such a large leap of coincidence embedded in the fact that Kate thought the guy sounded like her daddy. But a nice compliment to me anyway. Thank you, Kate.

The conversation ended something like this:

"I wish you had been here."

"Me too, Kate."

"No, I really wish you had been here."

"Well, I am glad you got to see him and meet with him."

"Well, I really wish you had been here."

"Thanks, Kate. See you later, baby."

"By daddy."

And so another milestone of life for Kate passes. Needless to say, she was excited.