A Chance Meeting
There is no privacy at the San Diego International Comic-Con. However, you think you may have found a place, tucked back here where no one is looking and blocked by the backs of author signing booths. The scenic view of the harbor is a small amelioration for your muddled, cobwebbed head – courtesy of last night’s gallons of Guinness. While you wonder if that Princess Leia cosplay beauty will actually call you back, you hear a snort and look to your right. At first, all you see is a GIANT BLACK COWBOY HAT resting atop a longish gray beard. A closer inspection reveals a quiet, middle-aged man also enjoying this rare bit of solitude. He cracks a bit of a smile, seeming to understand your situation, and with an English accent, gently says, “Hi, my name’s Terry” and extends his hand. You shake it. While you will not know this for years, you are meeting a man who will change your life forever.
In Honor of Sir Terry Pratchett
On this day, four years ago, the world lost an amazing and magic human being, Sir Terry Pratchett. The story above is the true account of how I met this man, years before I had ever read one of his books and before he changed my life.
For those not in the know, Terry Pratchett was an author, most recognized for his Discworld novels. He was a highly prolific, world-wide phenomenon having written over 70 books, translated in 37 languages and selling in excess of 80 million copies. His novels are characterized by wildly imaginative comic fantasy that transcended the genre and paved the way for the likes of J.K. Rowling and others.
In 2007, Pratchett was diagnosed with a rare form of Alzheimer’s disease, posterior cortical atrophy, which affects the back portions of the brain. This “embuggerment” as Pratchett referred to it, slowed his intense writing schedule, wreaked havoc on his overall ability to function and, ultimately, claimed his life.
As an author and as a man, Terry Pratchett profoundly affected me as a person. Through his work, more specifically, his ideas & approach to life, I began to see the world from a slightly, albeit, intensely different angle. In my youth, I was, perhaps, best described as an extremely cynical absurdist, but Terry made me better appreciate the strong Humanist undercurrent prevalent throughout his work – the focus on the individual & collective value and agency of we humans. After a decade, it helped me to more richly comprehend the world and the way in which I interacted in it. In short, it helped me to become a better person.
Money Makes People Rich; It’s a Fallacy to Think It Makes Them Better
By anyone’s estimation, Terry Pratchett was extremely rich. With a net worth of over $65 million, Sir Terry was beyond financially independent and somewhere out the other side. Nevertheless, he continued to relentlessly pursue his passion of writing every single day, even after his disease left him unable to type and he had to dictate to his assistant. Writing was the passion of his life and he always considered the money to be a coincidental byproduct of that.
As I’ve said previously, with an affluence of money and time, how those are spent truly defines who we are and Terry spent his making magic both of the literary kind and helping to change lives in other ways as well. He was a trustee of the Orangutan Foundation, dedicated to the conservation of the species; a 7-figure donor to the Alzheimer’s Research Trust to ignite contributions and further research into the prevention of the disease; as well as a supporter of the British Humanist Association & Children with AIDS. Moreover, toward the end of his life, Terry was a staunch, vocal advocate for dignity in dying, perhaps best manifested in his stunningly powerful, persuasive lecture, “Shaking Hands with Death.”
Through his actions, Terry demonstrated to me that money was nothing more than a blur in the background – not the focus; not the object. Passion, commitment and a belief in helping to create a “bigger something” was. We at Fates On Fire refer to it as creating magic.
The Freedom to Succeed Goes Hand In Hand With the Freedom to Fail
Throughout his life, Sir Terry was fiercely independent in both idea and action. He did what he wanted to do and followed his heart, irrespective of the possibility of failure. Moreover, his commitment to his vision at the expense of, likely, millions of dollars, was commendable. As an international, best-selling novelist, he frequently turned down lucrative offers from Hollywood to make films from his books. Rather, he chose other opportunities where there was more control such as small BBC and independent theater productions. If he wanted to escape the Discworld for a while, he would collaborate with others, or write non-related, stand-alone books. And when it came to speaking his mind on passionate matters, he did so – with a rare combination of force, grace and persuasiveness.
We, all of us, are well aware that with freedom come risks, including the risk of abject failure. But then again, that’s just they way life works, right? We all know that “sometimes the fall kills us, but we also know that, sometimes, when you fall, you fly.” That is an inherent aspect of the FIRE proposition and one that should be treasured. It should be treasured because it speaks to the passion and intrepid nature to venture out beyond the security and comfort of the norm. Belief in yourself and your goal is essential for success.
It is Said That Your Life Flashes Before Your Eyes Before You Die. That is True, It’s Called Life.
I absolutely adore this quote because of the searing jolt of realness embedded in it. It’s the kind of thing that resonates with the core of our reptilian brains (at least mine) – the kind of thing that ought to make one take stock. To this end, I am grateful for Sir Terry crafting a peculiar and magical lens in which I now see the world from a eminently different perspective; one that’s allowed me to embrace and value, through humor, the joy, fury, rage, and love of all us humans. I am grateful for his object lessons of kindness, humility, giving and caring as well as those of fierce independence, unflagging self-belief and doing what you want always on your own terms. These are sage learnings for all of those pursuing financial independence, or true freedom of any sort. Without Terry Practchett there would not be a Fates On Fire. Without him, I would be blind to seeing the magic that we all experience every day. Without him, I would be much, much lesser me.
So, What is the Colour of Magic?
“It was octarine. It was alive and glowing and vibrant and it was the undisputed pigment of the imagination, because wherever it appeared it was a sign that mere matter was a servant of the powers of the magical mind. It was enchantment itself.” As I read this quote now, it’s both ironic and touching that it serves as a perfect description of Terry’s work and, more importantly, the man himself.
So today, and every March 12th since 2015, I think a great deal about Terry Pratchett. And when I do it’s always just the two of us there in San Diego. A couple of tired guys briefly chatting at a chance meeting behind the curtains of one of the biggest shows on Earth. A moment of pure magic.
Thank you, Terry, for helping to make me, well, me. Most of all, thanks for making me realize that unless we turn our lives into a story, we just become a part of of someone’s else’s story. As you said, “no one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away,” so I’m very grateful, as are many others, that you’re still really here with us and will be for a very, very long time.
You a Terry Pratchett fan? Did his work change you in a meaningful way? If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comments.
If you’ve not familiar with Terry Pratchett or would like to lean more check out the links below. Even if it doesn’t change your life, you are guaranteed a kick-ass read.