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Posted by Wilson on March 21st, 2008 in the |
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On 8 March 2008, James Oliver Rigney, Jr. was inducted as the 47th member of the South Carolina Academy of Authors (SCAA) Hall of Fame. The setting was perfect, The Citadel, The Military College of S.C. The man most of you only knew by his nom de plume, Robert Jordan was a graduate of the Citadel and adored his alma mater. Jim would have loved the attention and been embarrassed by it. You see, he wrote not for acclaim. He wrote because that’s what he loved to do. But every one of us likes a pat on the back and a “well done” from time to time. This ceremony was exactly that, a public affirmation of what we fans of Robert Jordan already know. Jim, aka Robert Jordan, has taken the world of fantasy to a level that was only a dream before. The long narrative is possible because of Jim. A writer in his genre was quoted recently for having said that we owe the likes of Harry Potter to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. Jim did not live to hear that line, he did however know that the SC Authors had named him to the Hall. He was informed of it at the beginning of September 2007. Jim’s response, “I’ll be there”, for the ceremony. He lost his fight only two weeks later, but he left knowing that he’d had that pat on the back from his peers. For that, I am eternally grateful. Well done, bubba. The evening was a celebration of Jim the man and RJ the writer. Mike Livingston, a Professor of English at the Citadel was asked to speak about Robert Jordan. He began with the first three lines from Beowulf. He detailed how fantasy has always been an important art, inspiring us all to choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong, to aspire for greatness and not settle for mediocrity. He wove a brilliant tapestry of fantasy through the ages landing upon our own Jim. R.J.’s impact on the genre will be felt for as long as man pens fantasy. Marjory Wentworth, the Poet Laureate of South Carolina, was asked to speak of the man, Jim Rigney. She told of his mentoring of promising students. She recalled how he had seemed even more excited than she when she was named Poet Laureate. She talked at length of his generosity of education and his community. She remembered fondly his story telling, his singing and his most thunderous laughter. Marjory counted herself blessed for having had Jim as a friend. The official words inducting Jim into the Hall were pronounced by D. Oliver Bowman, Chair of the 2008 SCAA Induction Committee. Linda Ferguson and Ellen Hyatt, SCAA board members, presented Harriet with a Memorial Gift, a clock. All felt it most appropriate for the Creator of the Wheel of Time. The mood of the evening was light. Still as people talked of my Brother/Cousin, I was transported back to that horrible time in September. Perhaps the wound is like that in Rand’s side, it may never heal. I do hope that it does, for I am sure that Jim would rather I remember the laughter, not the pain. That goes for all of us really. This night in Charleston, the Two Rivers made terra firma, the people gathered under the large oaks of Stedding Citadel, to sing the songs of praise to one of our own, James Oliver Rigney, Jr., who though passed will live in our hearts forever. Wilson
Pictures from the Event (click to enlarge) Video from the event |
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59 Responses to “Authors Hall of Fame”Pages: [6] 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All Pages: [6] 5 4 3 2 1 » Show All Leave a Reply |
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March 15th, 2009 at 12:15 am
How effective was this for people?
January 2nd, 2009 at 5:18 am
To the Jordan family, I am sorry to hear of your loss. Thanks for sharing so much through this site of your husband / father / brother / friend and its a tribute to your obviously strong family connections that it warms the heart to read and if anything makes our connections to the author through his books even stronger.
Robert Jordan has made a profound difference to mine and many others lives, I actually found out about him while playing online poker and noticing that a fellow players interests were the Wheel of Time series, ( yes its strange how these chance can affect you, isn’t it ? ) We spoke about it briefly and then she was knocked out of the tournament :( even so she changed my literary life and can’t thank her enough for that brief encounter.
The first book I read just to see if I would like him was New Spring and within a few chapters had ordered the whole series. It was fortunate that at the time I had a severe back injury which mean’t that I could only sleep for a few minutes a day due to excruciating pain, ( if only Nynaeve could have been on hand hehe ), those 8 months off work were past reading the whole series which I completed shortly before surgery cured me of most of the pain, thank you Robert ( Jim ) for helping me through a very difficult time, R.I.P and we all look forward to when the Wheel of Time spins you out again to search for your Harriet and spin some amazing yarns along the way.
Nick ( Isleworth UK )
June 14th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
To the Rigney family;
My deepest regrets on the loss of James to your family.
I became a reader of WOT novels 18 years ago with my first reading of, “The Eye of the World”.
As predicted by Piers Anthony’s cover quote, it did become a major fantasy epic and explored the dynamics of personal relationships, religious belief systems, cultural diversity and political machinations all under the umbrella of a fantasy enriched realm. These works by Jordan, are such that they draw you in deeply and involve you in every facet of the characters, places and events. I have read and re-read every novel in this series perhaps 5 or 6 times and certainly will again. Jordan was clearly a stident of humanity and a master at expressing the inner most thoughts and emotions of his characters.
His work epitomizes the transformation of imagination to page and I thank him for 18 years of enjoyment and escape as they are both necessary in this our world to maintain one’s sanity and clarity of purpose!
June 9th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
Honor to Mr. and Mrs. Rigney. I am glad to see that there is still recognition for Mr. Rigney’s works even after his passing. I for one truely believe that he will be well known at least 2 more generations into the future. All 12 people I have convinced to read the first book, have fallen in love with the series and have read it all the way to KoD. Wilson/Harriet, if you would be so kind as to let us know how you are doing personally, that would be great. I cannot speak for everyone else, but I would like to continue to hear how the family of Mr. Rigney is doing. Many of us have lost people close to us, and know how hard it is. God’s grace upon you and yours.
May 28th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
Ignoring the troll chick whose theory is about as likely as the one where Jo Rowling is a devil worshipper…
I haven’t been here in a while, but I suddenly wondered how Harriet and Wilson were doing, so here I am. Really, you guys are just the best. Stay strong. *hugs*
And w00t! for Jim’s SCAA induction!! :-) :-) This was so well deserved!
May 16th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I got into TWOT a few years ago and have been a big fan of Mr. Jordans works. It saddened me to hear of his passing. I am thankful that Mr. Jordan decided to pass His greatest work on to another author’s shoulders. May Mr. Jordan rest in peace and He very deffinatly deserves many more hall of fame entries. To Mrs. Rigney thank you for continuing to feed us information on Mr. jordan and the last book. I also want to thank everyone here at Dragonmount for keeping us up to date on everything Mr. jordan and Hariet have been doing.
April 27th, 2008 at 6:48 am
A much deserved honour to a great man.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:25 am
Apologies for the double post, but I would appreciate it if Anna’s post was removed. It is entirely in bad taste. Besides, if she actually took the time to engage her brain before opening her mouth she would have noticed that the women in Mr. Jordan’s novels are more often than not the driving force behind most events that take place and I think everyone here knows why he chose to write it like that.
April 23rd, 2008 at 7:21 am
No one deserved or deserves this honor more. Best Wishes,
Justin.