Dan Brown Walks Among Us

I met Dan Brown yesterday!

More accurately, Dan Brown briefly acknowledged me with a warm hello on his way in to visit with our company’s CEO and others.

For those of you not in the know, allow me. Dan Brown is the internationally best-selling, critically acclaimed, publicly adored, often criticized author of the amazing (or not, depending on your views) books, “The Da Vinci Code” and “Angels & Demons”, among others.

*Note: If your only foray into Dan Brown’s world stems from your trip to the cinema to watch Ron Howard’s poorly adapted versions of the books, then you are missing the cruise liner and stuck on the balsa riding the rough, high seas. Meaning? You absolutely lose the passion and detail of the books when all is laid out on film.

Back track

Why did Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code garner such passionate feelings from both positive and negative? Well, the FICTIONAL tale is controversial. The story centers around one professor of symbology (<--not a real science), Dr. Robert Langdon, and his work chasing the secrets and meanings of centuries’ old defunct organizations all trying to contain the world’s most valued secret: That Jesus Christ married Mary of Magdalene and fathered a child, a daughter named Sarah.

Whoa! Hold back the angry roars! I said it was fictional. And as any good Catholic (or Christian) knows, we can hardly cast the first stone, no matter how upset this story makes us. What is not fiction is the simple fact that Dan Brown can weave a tale. He is what author’s aspire to be: a writer who can make magic flow from his mind, to his fingers onto the keyboard and, ultimately, into the reader’s hands. Now that’s the kind of hero I can latch on to. Paris Hilton?? Britney Spears?? Ha! I laugh!

His other masterpiece is "Angels & Demons," which was also a seemingly harsh attack on Catholicism's history of indiscretions and its after-effects. Ron Howard and the Hollywood elite semi-butchered this one on film, too.

Anyway, I personally think "Angels...", the so-called prequel to "Da Vinci" and starring the good Dr. Robert Langdon, too, is better than "Da Vinci", but I am not about to argue with the legions of fans "The Da Vinci Code" earned for itself. Let's just say both books are incredible.

SCRATCH ALL OF THE ABOVE:

I MET met Dan Brown! Not only did Dan Brown acknowledge me on his way out, but he also hugged me, autographed and personalized my book! I may die happy now! There are some days when it rocks to be in my world! Yesterday was such a day!

So, fans and foes alike, the kind, unassuming, down-to-earth Mr. Brown is not what I expected. It’s like he is unaware of who he is. I almost asked him: “Do you know who you are?”

He looked almost thrilled to meet a fan, when our promotions person said she wanted to introduce him to me. Then he seemed gleeful that I had my copy of “The Da Vinci Code” for him to sign. He picked it up as gently as I would, and looked it over. "Oh, you have a good, older hardcover copy," he said. I told him I read it and tried to never crack the bind. It's in mint condition. It's one of those books I can't even bring myself to lend out (now more so that ever!) He asked me my name, and (bless his heart) how to spell it correctly. He thanked me (for what?) over and over and then personalized the book for me. I wish I would have been able to get a picture, but that’s in the Rule Book, under NO!

Still, Mr. Brown and I will always have July 29, 2009! And, come September 15, I will have his new book - also a Robert Langdon mystery - titled "The Lost Symbol". I simply cannot wait!

However, I know there is probably a moving clip of the encounter somewhere in the haunted shell of this very building where all of the ubiquitous cameras (watching our every move) store their deep, dark secrets! One day!

Brief as my time with the great author was, I can’t help but realize how super significant and very cool it really is that I got to meet, speak with and get an autograph from Dan Brown. For starters, Mr. Brown doesn’t do book signings like most authors. And that isn’t because he thinks he’s too big for his britches, but more because an author of his scale and distinction would easily be a cause for security concerns at the local Barnes & Noble. We try to shy away from having to hire NYC police department employees to control our events. Certainly having Dan Brown would cause such a need.

Understanding all of the above, it makes me even more grateful for this unique opportunity. To have met someone whose work I respect and admire is right up there with one day being able to publish my own book and the big, silly smile that will come with it!