The young freelancer told me that her father was a college English professor. I asked if he wrote too. She said he used to, but doesn't anymore. "I buy him notebooks for his birthday," she said, "in hopes of encouraging him. And he says, 'Thanks. I'll use it for my to-do lists.'"
It made me wonder if daily contact with the greats makes it difficult to practice their profession. Most writers read the classics in school and then move on, dipping into them from time to time but not living with them day after day. We are not constantly reminded of the enormous gap between our meager efforts and works of true genius, and that forgetfulness makes it possible for us to continue.
