[HPFGU-OTChatter] The books on CD

[Mrs. Lee Storm (God Is The Healing Force)]

[You said]:
| How nice that 
| you've been able
| to meet him.  I never cared much about trying to meet 
| entertainers--well,
| except Paul McCartney whom I would still love to meet!--but I 
| have many
| authors I'd like to meet and several audio book readers.  Jim 
| Dale would be
| at the top of my list of readers I'd like to sit down and talk to.

[Lee]:
Well, I haven't had that extreme pleasure, but we have shared email.  It's a
long story that started out probably back in 2002.

I had gotten on Jim's website after a Google search to see if there was any
way of contacting him.  There was no contact link.  There was, however, a
heartfelt request for people to write to a Potter Fan who had lost a leg
through cancer and was going through lots of changes in his life.  Jim asked
people to send lots of positive thoughts and encouragement.

Not  knowing the age of this person, I dropped a simple note to the email
address provided.  Turns out the boy was 8 years old; his father, Craig, was
quick to respond and, before I knew it, I became totally connected with this
family.  Kasey, the little boy, was the cutest, smartest, kindliest little
guy who had asked one of the Make-A-Wish people as one of his requests to
speak with either J.K. or Jim Dale.  It was Jim who responded, very
promptly, giving the family his home number and telling them to keep in
touch with him no matter what.  According to Craig, Jim had lost someone in
his family to cancer...someone young, and just wanted to help because he
could understand the situation.  I'm not sure if he had endured cancer
himself, but I know it had been with someone close to him.

It was through Craig that I got in touch with Jim Dale; something Craig sent
out, a report of their trip to Disney, I think, had Jim's email address on
it, so I wrote.  I think it was the Christmas of 2002.  I told Jim how I had
gotten his email address, how I had connected with Craig and Kasey, and what
a blessing and pleasure his reading was.  I told Jim that one of the
greatest things was having the Potter books with us in the car, etc., and
enjoying his reading to us while we drove.  I wished him a blessed Christmas
and new year.  Within two days, I got a wonderful response and that, as they
say, was the beginning of a wonderful email connection.

I'm sorry to report that Kasey didn't make it.  I can tell you that every
one of us in my church cried; we had all been lifting him and his family up
in prayer.  Craig and his wife, Celia, were totally devastated, of course;
Craig's parents were fantastic; they kept in touch with me and kept me
posted when Craig couldn't.  I, unfortunately, ended up having to send the
sad news of Kasey's passing because Craig was so distraught he couldn't find
Jim's email address, phone number or anything, so I said I'd write.  I did,
telling Jim I had been on the phone for two hours with Craig and Celia and
that they wanted him to know how much they had appreciated all his calls to
Kasey as the voice of Hagrid or Dumbledore, etc.

One funny...Kasey had been in the hospital for a surgery and Craig had let
Jim know; Jim called Kasey at the hospital as the voice of Dumbledore, and
Kasey's biggest thrill was telling whoever he saw that Dumbledore had called
him.

Anyway, I got to meet Craig and Celia and Craig's parents; they're all
really sweet.  Unfortunately, I think they're still, after all this time, in
such a grief hold that it's tragic.

But Jim and I have still kept in touch.  I remember his letting me know he
was getting the MBE.  When that horrible bombing happened in London, one of
the first things I did was write to Jim and ask if he had any folks who
might be affected and was everyone okay.  He wrote back and told me that,
thank God, no one of his people had been hurt, but his son had been up in
one of the news helicopters and had sent Jim pics...the devastation had been
incredible.

He's sent me a few jokes, a wonderful animated ecard a couple of Christmases
ago, and, though our contacts are sporadic, each one is fun.  He's been
ending his notes with "Lotsa," which I believe is a short form for Lotsa
Love, which I found very touching.

Another nice reader is Dick Hill in Illinois.  He's very good and very
fun...and he and his wife often collaborate on projects.  They have a cat,
too.  He's not a professional actor, but has done some, and looks at books
as plays to perform, so to speak.

Anyway, that's my story of Jim.  The closest I got to him was attending the
last run of "A Christmas Carol."

Take care,

Lotsa,
Lee :-)

Do not walk behind me,    | Lee Storm
I may not care to lead;   | N2FGC
Do not walk before me,    | n2fgc at arrl.net (or)
I may not care to follow; | n2fgc at optonline.net
Walk beside me, and be my friend.