Proust Questionnaire. Guest Blogger Rex John

Bonjour from Paris!

Today we start with our first guest blogger, Rex John! Rex is one of my most favorite people on the face of the earth. Not only is Rex one of the kindest, wisest and most evolved human beings that I have ever met but he is also the funniest which, in my book, is golden. Before Rex retired, he had a real job but I don’t know what that was because I never really asked… but I assume it was super important. I do know that Rex is a superb writer and he has written several books available HERE and HERE. I could publish the email correspondence between Rex and I and it would be a New York Times best-selling book due to Rex’s hysterical “spit out your coffee” humor. Rex also wrote the forward to my book, AND SO IT IS, and for that I am forever grateful.

So, as I mentioned in the previous blog HERE, I am going to give my friends a question from the Proust Questionnaire and then we can sit back and enjoy their answers. I also thought it would be fun if all of you left your own personal Proust answers to the daily question in the comments section!

Here we go…

Proust Question: Who is your hero of fiction?

Rex’s Answer: The person who writes it, of course.   Oh — that would be me: wannabe fiction writer.  

Okay, okay, I’ll be serious — and I will resist the temptation to choose Carson Kirkpatrick from my own book, “Makeovers” — even though I created him to be socially engaged in a diabolical, psychopathic sort of way — sort of like certain politicians.

But if I leave myself and my own characters out of the mix, I’m still torn. I really like “Boo” Radley in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” who was first portrayed as a nut job recluse, but who turns out to just want love and friendship, like all of us.   

I also like Stephen Dedalus, in James Joyce’s “Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” who famously said, “When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I shall try to fly by those nets.”

But what about Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”?  She acts vain and empty-headed but she came up with a brilliant strategy I often use myself: “I can't think about that right now. If I do, I'll go crazy. I'll think about that tomorrow.”

No, wait!  Now I remember who my all-time favorite hero of fiction is — A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh,” of course.  It is Pooh himself who says things like:

“A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise,” (this actually speaks to me!)

and, 

“Some people care too much. I think it's called love.”  (This, too.)

Or, my all-time favorite: 

“If there ever comes a day when we can’t be together, keep me in your heart, I’ll stay there forever.”

True dat, Pooh.  True dat.

Good answer, Rex!

Now, I thought it would be fun if I asked each guest blogger what their favorite charity is because you can really get a sense of who a person is by what they support.

Ellie’s Question: Rex, what is your favorite charity?

Rex’s Answer: Favorite charity?  I have several I really like, but since you’ve asked a question about literary figures, I think of literacy and I’ve always liked The Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy because there are 36 million Americans who can’t read!  (Which explains a lot, I’m afraid.) http://barbarabush.org

Thank you, Rex! Stay tuned for our next guest blogger... Hint... SAJ!