Diana Wynne Jones

It is with very heavy heart that I present the news that Diana Wynne Jones has passed. The reason that I consider this such heavy news is that Diana is, without a doubt, my all-time favorite author. You may have noticed that in previous posts I refer to authors by their last names, but I feel like Diana has worked her way into my life so well that I can call her by her first name. Diana has created some of the most original and dynamic worlds that I have ever visited, all created through her words. While I have met at most 5 other people in this world who know the genius of Diana Wynne Jones, I nonetheless will remain an avid supporter of her works; I just regret that I didn't get to read all of her books before she died, nor did I ever write her any bit of fan mail. I ran across one of her books in a local bookstore when I was in late middle/early high school, and because it had a cat and the quote "If you're missing Harry, try Diana!" on the cover. I was indeed missing Harry [Potter], and I absolutely love cats, so I decided to try out the book. I didn't read the book for over a year, however, but once I had my wisdom teeth out, I was incapacitated for about a week. I finished reading 600 of the 700+ pages in The Dragonbone Chair, a book that I had been struggling with for over 5 months (I started it in April and had only read 100 pages by August. If you know me, that tells you how much trouble I had making any progress in it. The only other book to compare is The Fellowship of the Ring, in which I got to 100 pages but then spent months trying to get past the walking. And the walking and walking. Let's not forget the walking, followed by the walking. Then they walked for a while. Then they arrived at shelter, followed by a bit more walking. Enough, Tolkien! Anyway, I digress). Once I finished The Dragonbone Chair, I was looking for something else to read, and I settled on The Chronicles of Chrestomanci, v. 1 by Diana Wynne Jones. Rarely have I so rabidly devoured a book! In less than a day, I had finished both stories contained within. I had to have more. I started scouring bookstores for Diana books, to little avail. But what I could find, I loved.

Over the years, I managed to find a few of her books here and there, and even went so far as to purchase one of her books (The Merlin Conspiracy) in a Canadian airport when I came across it, for several more dollars than I would have paid in America (yes, including the conversion rate). But it wasn't until about two to three months ago that I found some of her books in the SLIS library here at UW, including a book (Archer's Goon) that has been out of print for several years. I was sitting at a table near the computer lab when I looked up and noticed her name. Thank goodness she was on the end of a shelf of books, or I doubt I would have even noticed! Upon further inspection, they had nearly and entire shelf of her works, and I know that I will be checking out several more of those books that I haven't been able to find elsewhere yet.

So, let this serve as my bit of an elegy to Diana Wynne Jones, a fantastic and fantastical writer who will forever remain among my top authors or perhaps even as my favorite author, as I don't foresee anyone else moving ahead of her anytime soon. Rest in peace, DWJ.

Diana Wynne Jones, Aug. 16, 1934-Mar. 26, 2011