Last night I hosted Luminato's An Evening With Neil Gaiman. It was a wonderful event held in the lovely intimate Jane Mallet Theatre. A sold out house, and so many people to thank, especially the attentive audience, the volunteers, the technical crew, and the fine folks from Luminato and HarperCollins.
I would like single out Devyani Saltzman from Luminato and Colleen Clarke from HarperCollins, who spent hours setting up the evening and who made sure that Neil was well taken care of.
The evening began with Devyani introducing me, and then I introduced Neil. Everybody laughed in the right places. When Neil stepped on stage the theatre erupted in prolonged applause. It seemed to go on for ever, which was lovely. Neil read, beautifully, from The Graveyard Book, and when he was finished the applause lasted so long that I could adjust the lighting on the podium, and reach my seat before it subsided. Neil and I chatted for about half an hour. Just two old friends talking about things they care about.
We opened the questions up to the audience, and, as always, the questions were a mixed bag. There was one lovely question from a grade 4 student- 'Do you visualize what you write?'...
Neil then read from Blueberry Girl, and a short story from Who Killed Amanda Palmer. Once again the hall was filled with applause. We left the stage, and Neil signed some books for the staff.
‘It’s like we are Lou Reed and John Cale re-uniting’ I said.
‘No, said Neil. ‘I think we’re from different bands. Like Paul Simon and Lemmy.’
I’m still trying to figure out which one I am…
Neil then signed, and signed, and signed. He was still signing when I went off for a much needed beverage at 11pm.
A number of people asked me for a copy of my introduction, so I promised to post it here. Once again, thanks to everybody who made this event such a success, especially the fans.
You did Toronto proud.
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Welcome to Luminato's An Evening With Neil Gaiman.
Congratulations to all of you- this event sold out in a heartbeat, and Toronto continues to prove that it is- as Neil was recently quoted- his first girlfriend.
Tonight is a celebration of storytelling, the written word, and of course, tonight's special guest.
I discovered Neil Gaiman the way many of you did. Friends kept mentioning him as a writer and a literate fellow who shared my love of books and comics, and a few months later I finally read his work.
The year was 1987, and what I read was a xerox copy of an as yet unpublished graphic novel called Violent Cases, brilliantly illustrated by Dave McKean. Violent Cases is the story of a man trying to make sense of a childhood injury, and it's a meditation on the fallibility of memory and the lingering impact of violence. I loved it. Others loved it too. It won awards and was adapted into a stage play, thus setting up a pattern that has continued though-out Neil's career.
When I finally met Neil in 1988 I asked him how autobiographical Violent Cases was.
'Oh', he replied, 'it's all true except for the bits I made up'.
Setting up another pattern.
One of the most remarkable things about Neil's career is you- Neil's fans.
Your loyalty to Neil and his work has been astounding.
Many of you have, since 1991, been braving the famously long lines with your arms full of books, hoping to get them signed. For those of you who will be lining up again tonight in the theatre lobby, I trust that you have packed enough food and drink to sustain you and perhaps a few amusements to make the time go faster. Good luck!"
When Neil made the transition from comics to novels, you bought his books and supported him. Something no other comic book writer, including Steve Englehart, Chris Claremont, or even Alan Moore can claim. You also bought tickets to his movies, and purchased cds, t-shirts, toys, posters, and prints based on his work.
Neil has shared his life with his readers on award winning blog, and over half a million people follow him on Twitter.
When questioned about his open relationship with his fans he said- Yes, we have an open relationship. Obviously they can see other authors if they want, and I can see other readers.
Neil's last signing and reading in Toronto was 3 years ago, and since then he's been busy.
He co-wrote the screenplay for Beowulf, which starred Angelina Jolie and Ray Winstone. Two movies were based on his work, Stardust and Coraline. Coraline was also adapted as an Off-Broadway musical with Stephen Merritt, with whom Neil is collaborating on a new musical.
Neil wrote roughly a dozen short stories for a book of photographs called 'Who Killed Amanda Palmer'.
Odd and the Frost Giants was a novella written for World Book Day to promote literacy.
Neil wrote the final issues of Batman and Detective comics, a two part story called What Ever Happened to the Caped Crusader.
He wrote an Eternals mini-series and integrated the characters into the Marvel Universe.
He's also been overseeing Absolute Death, and the massive four volume Absolute Sandman collections. As well, Neil's frequent collaborator P. Craig Russell adapted Coraline and Sandman Dream Hunters into graphic novels.
Neil has two new children's books out- Blueberry Girl with art by the co-creator of Stardust, Charles Vess and Crazy Hair with art by Violent Cases artist Dave McKean. Crazy Hair debuted at number 3 on the NYTimes bestseller list last week, and to quote Dave McKean- 'Not bad for a very slight text and some silly pictures.'
And last, but certainly not least, Neil wrote The Graveyard Book, which is, glibly speaking, Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, if you change a boy being raised by wolves to a boy being raised by ghosts and ghouls and things that go bump in the night. The book debuted at number one, and then dawdled along on the NYTimes best-seller list for over 30 weeks. This week it pulled up its socks and shot back to number one!"
It is being adapted into a movie by acclaimed director Neil Jordan, and it won the prestigious Newbury Medal earlier this year. Not bad for a children's book with the unusually ominous first sentence- 'There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife.'
Please join me in welcoming to the stage, reading from his Audie and Newbery Medal winning The Graveyard Book- storyteller, blue ribbon bee keeper and writer of stuff, Toronto's boyfriend-
Neil Gaiman.
Photo Credit: Adrienne Kress