Geoffrey Chaucer--Smootrat?

Original Post: 6 November 2012
Posted Here: 3 December 2017

In the current chapter that I've been writing for The Centaurian Bud Vase, I needed to mention a series of "old Waxonian stories" about tax collectors traveling various routes to the capitol city. This reminded me of The Canterbury Tales that my English Lit class had read bits and pieces of when I was in High School. I was curious about the author, so I looked up Geoffrey Chaucer in Wikipedia. Their article described him as "widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages" and talked a lot about his life.

This got me thinking about how much "history" records dates and events, but leaves out a lot of really important information. I guess that's why I enjoy watching the appraisers describing the artifacts on "Antiques Roadshow." In the case of Chaucer, Wikipedia described his life and what he did for a living, but had nothing about what kind of a person he was. Was he kind and generous, was he a considerate husband, or was he a smootrat?

For my purposes, it really didn't matter, since my story didn't involve Chaucer or The Canterbury Tales. But it did remind me how little we are apt to know about our "greatest" people. A few years ago I attended a science fiction conference where, among other things, a couple of awards for "the year's best" were to be given. A rather crowded get together was held the night before the conference and one of the recipients and his wife were present. As she went to sit down in the only remaining chair, he dived into it. She was left standing, looking a little bewildered. I thought his was rather ill-mannered behavior and gave her my chair. Some time later, she had just taken a bite from a cookie. I know nothing of her health--perhaps she'd been trying to lose weight or perhaps she was diabetic. But this award-winning writer, standing nearby at that moment, reached out and slapped the cookie from her mouth and hand. He didn't try to stop her by saying something like, "My dear, remember your health. You shouldn't eat this cookie." He just slapped it away. (He didn't pick up the pieces from the floor, either.)

Since then I often think about the difference between a "great writer" and a "great person." One does not imply the other. But I see no reason why a great writer should not also be a great person. He certainly does not need to be a smootrat.

Yesterday I was working my way though a recent SF magazine and came across a short story written by this guy. The blurb before the story mentioned some of the awards that he'd won. But it didn't mention what sort of person he is.

I don't have to read stories by award-winning smootrats. I skipped the story.

Keep reading/keep writing - Jack