Author Visit Part I: When Worlds Collide

Like so many wonderful things in life, my story begins with Michelle Kwan.

Told you it was awesome.
 And yes, we still have it.

My devotion-turned-admiration for this beloved athlete is no secret to my family, friends, colleagues, and students. In fact, it serves as a beautiful (and, at times, overwhelming) example of what we Crazy Reading Ladies hope to encourage, and what Michelle taught me long ago: love out loud. Wear your passion on your sleeve! Make signs! Gush! Let it out! OWN IT.  

Beaming behind MK's left shoulder.
World Championships, 2003.

Long before I was a Crazy Reading Lady, I was a Crazy Kwan Girl. My friends and I saved every penny we could and traveled to skating events around the world; I got my first passport to fly to the Torino Olympics. Each year, we counted down the days until her program music was announced and then burned CDs of her competition and exhibition pieces. I still tear up at the first notes of East of Eden or Spartacus. We bought tickets - several of us on the phone at once to guarantee the best seats - to competitions the minute they went on sale. Once there, we draped her hallowed arenas with bling-tastic signs and coordinated our outfits to match her dresses. Now card-carrying "grown-ups", we still associate cities with competitive memories (ahh, Atlanta. Oh, Crap Louis.)  Only recently - clinging to the safety net of YouTube - did I say goodbye to four dozen long-loved, meticulously labeled, color-coded VHS tapes. 

That's a Kwan Scream.
 Atlanta Nationals, 2004.

Ah, the glory days of Kwan. She gave us brilliant, beautiful memories, drew me to some of my dearest friends, and taught me lessons I desperately needed to learn. We were so, so lucky to be hers. 

Though I was never discreet about my love for Michelle in my professional life - I have a Wall of Kwan behind my desk and wear my "Got Kwan?" hoodie every sports jersey day - this year, my two worlds absolutely and completely collided into one big pile of literacy love.

In January, the US Figure Skating Championships came to Boston and my friends and I gathered for a fun reunion weekend. Out on the concourse, former ABC Sports director Doug Wilson was signing his recently published book, THE WORLD WAS OUR STAGE. As a skating fan, I knew exactly who he was. I recognized his hat, his voice, his smile. He had directed just about every skating broadcast I'd ever seen and had manned the helm of ABC's Wide World of Sports for fifty years. He was a legend. So I stood in line, bought a book, and struck up a conversation. Now, although it may surprise some of you, I consider myself a shy person. But this was the perfect storm. The chance to talk about books, my kiddos, and Michelle Kwan? I would not shut up. 

If memory serves, I was wearing my CRL shirt at the time; the man had fair warning.

C'mon Michelle, we know you 
still have skates!
Boston Nationals, 2014.

As we spoke about our mutual love for Michelle and waning interest in the competition at hand, I mentioned that as a reading specialist, I welcomed an author to my middle school each year. "Would you, by any chance, be interested in being our visiting author?" 

I knew it was a long-shot - I hadn't even spoken to my Principal - but sometimes, you just know. Wearing my passion on my literal sleeve paid off. We had a connection. Sure, Doug Wilson was an Emmy-award winner, published author, and sought-after speaker (and middle school is...an acquired taste) but what was the harm in asking?

The legend: Doug Wilson Boston, 2014

To my absolute delight, he said yes and we exchanged contact information right on the spot. I'm telling you, only good comes from being a Michelle Kwan fan.  

In Part II, we'll talk about everything that went in to making Author Visit 2014 as perfect as the Kwan spiral.