Tom Robbins’ Rock-star Return to Seattle
It's dark inside and he's wearing sunglasses - hit it! Editorial Assistant Deanna Duff gives the sc
By Editorial Assistant June 2, 2009
In your twenties, you are the master of being cool (if only in your mind!). Then you look in the mirror one day and there is a full-fledged adult staring back at you! You have a career, 2.5 kids, furniture and even a few gray hairs. You can’t help but wonder whether your coolness went the way of legwarmers and hacky sacks.
No need to worry and create more gray hairs. After seeing local celebrity author Tom Robbins, there is no doubt that coolness is a state of mind without an expiration date!
Robbins toured nationwide this year in support of his recent New York Times bestselling book, B is for Beer, with his last stop at Elliott Bay Book Co. Now in his seventies, Robbins read to a standing-room only crowd who took pictures, broke beer bottles and cheered like they were rock band groupies. Robbins took the stage wearing his aviator sunglasses and I fully expected a Blues Brother introduction of, “It’s dark and I’m wearing sunglasses. Hit it.”
Hit it he did. He talked about having his La Conner home staked out by the F.B.I. who once suspected him of being the Unabomber (it’s the sunglasses thing) and how he thinks his voice resembles Jeremy Irons even though he actually sounds like Colonel Sanders on Qualudes. Of course, he also read from his equally amusing book which is set in Seattle and charts the journey of a 6-year-old girl who learns about beer from the “Beer Fairy.”
Robbins gives us all hope for the future of our coolness. Maybe we can still party with the beer fairy and drink our PBRs (Robbins’ beer of choice). There might even be an advantage to our old age. We can still crash at Denny’s at 1:00 a.m. in the morning, but now we’ll get a senior discount, too!
-Deanna Duff