<html><head></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium; "><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">Hello,</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">My name is Ryan Dunn.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">I know many of you are long-time participants here on the <a href="http://urth.net">urth.net</a> mailing list. I am humbled by much of your prowess and breadth of knowledge on things both inside and out of Wolfe's Whorl.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">About me, briefly...</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">I am a commercial film director living and working in New York City (<a href="http://www.ladies-gentlemen.tv">www.ladies-gentlemen.tv</a>). I recently moved from Barrington, IL, where I worked in Chicago for a cumulative 7 years.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">But perhaps the only real tidbit you might care to know about me at this point is that, while working in Chicago, I was fortunate enough to have lived five doors down from Mr. Wolfe himself, and have found him to be one of the kindest neighbors a man and his family could ask for. Having watched him walk his dogs (first Calamity Jane and then Bobby) on a daily basis, we formed a very passing, but endearing relationship.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">Attempting to have conversations with him, however, was a bit like asking a toddler to contrast and compare Dickens against Shakespeare. I, of course, was the toddler. I remember one incident where a compliment from me on his latest book, "An Evil Guest," quickly evolved into a history lesson from Gene on when the Egyptians attempted to invade the Greek Islands.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">Wolfe was in fact my favorite author before I moved to Barrington (which quite coincidentally is where my wife was born and raised). I went through genre writing both quiality (Tolkien, Gibson, Stephenson) and questionable (Rowling, Goodkind, Jordan) before arriving at Wolfe's doorstep. But once I discovered him, all other writers could do little more than pale in comparison. I did not have any clue where Mr. Wolfe lived when we moved into that quaint village, so imagine my surprise when my father-in-law informed me!</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">At any rate, I simply wanted to say hello, share my background, unique story about Gene Wolfe, and that I hope to add to -- and use this list in the future -- for reasons both selfish and social. I am a fan of the <a href="http://urth.net">urth.net</a> group, and have been reading passively for many years (it is a bit of work to try and stay current with these discussions!).</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">Hope to join the debate some time soon.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; min-height: 17px; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">...ryan</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; "><br></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font: normal normal normal 14px/normal Helvetica; ">P.S. Also, I'm going to pretend he used my surname as inspiration for his main character in The Sorcerer's House, Baxter Dunn. A man can pretend, can't he?</div></span></div></body></html>