The Picture That Changed My Life
There are many ways we might venture upon an author, but the following is my personal story. Taking advantage of a few shopping minutes before I had to go to work, I stopped by an antique store. Heavy on my mind were the worries of "office politics". I was not having a good week. I spotted this picture you see below and I immediately felt better.
Here a cavalier sits, just having lost the toss of the dice. His companions are looking on with glee, but not with hate or revenge. They are commiserating with the loser and yet happy for the outcome in their favor. Such is life, such as were the "office politics" I was facing. My fellow workers could well replace the other cavaliers sitting at this table and I, the one scratching my head, would somehow survive the contest.
What I didn't realize was what was coming next in this adventure at the antique store. I walked up to purchase the framed print and on a small table I noticed a lovely "old" book, A Gentleman of France by Stanley J. Weyman. The book was irresistible at such a nominal price....$2.99. The book seemed to go with the framed print I was buying and I decided to purchase them both.
At home I delighted in my treasures. It was a happiness that is hard to describe. I felt content, soothed and was ready for whatever the evening might have in store for me at work. I took the book along to read at my lunch and break periods.
It was love at first sight for the Weyman book, yet the real joy came in reading the author's sage advice coupled with his exceptional rhetorical skill, and the accurate, historical, romantic adventure he described. It was the story of middle age, which I was going through and it was a balm so necessary for my troubled thoughts.
I still find great comfort with the picture, but the most rewarding experience has come from getting to know the author, Stanley Weyman who wrote the book I purchased nearly 100 years earlier. He was an exceptional human being and it is with great sadness that I find his name nearly forgotten these many years since. The loss to humanity is untold.
I hope that I can help to bring his name again before the public, but at the very least, it is my sincerest wish that this website will enable everyone curious about Mr. Weyman to drink of that knowledge until they are satisfied.
Faithfully Yours,
Donna Dightman Rudin