It is time to remember a great author who has delighted all of us even if we never read any of his books but we all have experienced his stories at one time or another. His writings gave a new meaning to the word fantasy. We are transported to the inner circle of a new dimension of relationships and creatures as people in his books. In a way this author should always be remembered each September.

On September 2, 1973 thirty nine years ago was a day of mourning in the imaginary world of middle earth. That was the day that John Ronald Reuel Tolkien died. In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit he wrote and so began a fantasy novel about a small creature with furry toes who goes on some dazzling adventures in the company of dwarfs and wizards and elves. It is intriguing because we as people only see things like this in our dreams. He made them come to life as we were alowed to glimpse their world.

It was amazing then to read his book The Hobbit as a child because when I grew up we did not have the amazing movies produced to show with great makeup and special effects what Tolkien was able to simply say in words. Lately in my life I feel I am getting so much more satisfaction from the written word, things I write to someone, that is so much more powerful than any visual. So, the book is more of an adventure than the movie about a book.

Reading any fantasy book is always better than the movie because the author tells you what to focus on in a scene. Unless it is very clear with close up shots in a movie you could be looking at anything in that scene but the book will tell you to focus on that tree where the red robin is showing off his beautiful red colors or something. The book has you where he wants you, paying attention to something. A book guides you more into the story line better than anything else. So encourage people you know to read more.

Tolkien was a professor at Oxford, a very serious school yet he had thoughts of this labyrinth of characters rolling around in his head and had the willpower to jot them down on paper for our enjoyment and thus became The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey which is based upon a story he told his 3 children. It was first published in 1937 and became an instant classic. The Lord of the Rings is the sequel that would take more than a decade to complete and would become one of the best selling books of all time.

The three books are The Fellowship of the Ring part one , The Two Towers part two and The Return Of The King part three all together known as The Lord Of The Rings. Then the movies got hold of the story. In 2001 the movie The Lord Of The Rings directed by Peter Jackson came to life on the big screen. It was followed by two other films all box office hits and has earned 3 Billion dollars world wide. The movies received a total of 30 Oscar nominations and 17 wins including one for Best Picture.

A new trilogy of Hobbit movies is set to hit theaters starting in December. Tolkien is still part of pop culture. The character Gollum with his bald head was spoofed holding the ring in his hand in an episode of the Big Bang Theory, a comedy show on TV. Just last month the late British author was honored with his very own crater on the planet Mercury. Yes, now the way you can get a star in the sky named after you, they are mapping and naming the craters on the planet Mercury. Mercury a place very far indeed from his mythical world of middle earth.

We all have our secret thoughts and fantasies buried in our minds. Do you dare to take your fantasies to the limit? Create your own world or civilization? Divulge into your needs and wants? Remember you can be with anyone, do anything and be anywhere in your fantasies and probably be the happiest person in the world until you tell someone about them and then they will think you are crazy. Hey, at least you had fun on the journey into the unknown and the fantasy land of possibilities.