You recently talked about a deli you and your wife visited. You had a heavenly pepper and egg sandwich on fresh, crusty bread. I live in the Hudson Valley and would love to visit this deli owned by Artie. Would you please tell me the name and location? Thanks very much.
It's the Bangall Country Store, in Bangall. Check it out while Artie is still there, and then go back and see how the new administration measures up.
Hey!
My name is Matt, and I have read (I think) all of your books. I grew up on you and Roald Dahl (don’t worry, I’m still young), and I wrote you a letter at oh, lets say age 7. You sent me a really cool postcard of you in your driveway by your car, with multiple copies of your head floating around. I have just finished reading The Worms Of Kukumlima for probably the 3rd time, and I looked at the back flap. It told of your extensive collection of false noses, and I was wondering, just how extensive is it? I really love all of your books, and I wish you a long and happy writing career. I hope to have one myself.
-Matt Age:14
It's pretty extensive. I own the Sunday best nose of Tycho Brahe, the Prodigious Proboscis of Prague, the Sacred Snoot of Singapore, the Miracle-nose of Nostrildamus, the missing nose of the Great Sphinx, and many others.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater:
My mom said she heard you review a really neat book about a rabbit who falls in love with a Brazilian girl. But she can’t remember the name of the story. Would you PLEASE send me the name, because then I can get her to buy it for me. Thank you very much.
It's Nina Bonita, published by Kane Miller books. Your bookstore can order it for you, and ask them to get you a catalog too--they have some other neat books
Dear Mr. Pinkwater:
I very much enjoyed the penguin poems you read with Scott Simon on the last Weekend Edition. I could not remember the author’s name, and wondered if you would be so kind as to provide it for me? Thanks for making a trip to a cross-town soccer game a treat.
It's ""Antarctic Antics,"" by Judy Sierra, illustrated by Jose Aruego and Ariane Dewey, and published by Harcourt Brace.
The other book we talked about was ""Insectlopedia,"" by Douglas Florian, also by Harcourt Brace.
In May of 1947 question number 13. on the Freshman English exam at Brooklyn Preparatory School was:
TRUE OR FALSE Nov schmoz ka pop
All of us who were faithful fans of SMOKEY STOVER in the Sunday Journal-American knew the correct answer.
Thanks and warm affection from us to you for the happiness you have brought into our lives. Our eight-year-old daughter has made your books required daily reading for the past couple of years since fat men from space came into her thentofore innocent life.
It was Smokey Stover? Not Popeye? I'm sure you're right--but whence comes my mental image of a short, white-bearded little character holding a sign, which I recall in a more Popeyeish style, not a Stoverish one? Whoever drew him, he was an ancestor or Mr. Natural, and Norb, (not to mention some of the muzhiks in Alexander Nevsky).
Dear Daniel,
I seem to be missing Chaptern 35 and 37 from your most ebtertaining book. Is my server on the blink or are the gaps intentional?
It may be that the chapters aren't listed on the main Afterlife Diet page, but you can get to them by clicking ""next"" at the end of each chapter. Last time I tried, I couldn't get to the book at all. Take it up with management at Fatso.com--I don't know anything about it.
My Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I may call you me dear, may I not? I have been reading you book, The afterlife Diet, and can barely wait for Chapter 35 to appear. It’s sort of magical giggles online.
Please rush further installments, am especially interested in the Pinkwadder and his craft. Although I do find Milton quite attractive.
It is for me to call you dear, dear reader.
Where can I find how many books by you are in the new york public library?
Is the NYPL refusing to disclose how many books of mine they have _again_? I understand it must be embarrassing for them, but if they have them, they ought to come right out and admit it. I am against secretiveness on the part of libraries. They have a responsibility to the public, and ought not to be delicate about things like this.
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
Your web site was the first I looked up! I enjoy your work and use many of your stories in my 6th grade class. Guys From Space always helps them remember what diffusion is!
I enjoy listening to you on NPR – the Jimmy Dirante song is quite catching. Is it available on a CD? I think I’d play it at the start of my language arts classes. If you’d let me know I’d appreciate it.
I'm told that Weekend Edition wesat@npr.org gets as many inquiries about the Durante song as about the books we discuss. I assume it's available somewhere. NPR is so great with finding music that all I had to do was mention it, and they found it!
Dear Mr. Pinkwater:
My husband and I don’t have any dogs right now. But we are planning to get some. We’d like to name them as follows:
Would this offend you? Do you think it would offend anyone? How come?
I'm not sure it's a good idea to get three dogs all at once. It would be three against two. My dogs are named Jacques-Amo- Pooch-Cini, Maxine and Lulu. Each is offensive in its way.
Our family has been reading your books for many years. We have kids ages 13, 10 and two 5 year old twins. My husband and I have always read and enjoyed the books more that the kids and we are always pushing your books on the kids during read aloud story times. The book we keep checking out of the library is “Author’s Day”. We find that book hysterical. Over the years we have read many others but looking at these web pages we may have missed one. Congratulations.
I'm delighted your family enjoys my books. I like Author's Day myself. Out of print, I think. Children's books have a rather short life, and it takes a lot to get them republished. Thanks.
Mr. Pinkwater,
I love your books! I’ve been reading them since I was 10 and now that I am partially grown (22) I appreciate them even more. Please keep on writing novels for young adults– the drought since Borgel was hard on me and I swear that you’ve got one more sequel for the Snarkout Boys in you somewhere.
Anyway, I’ve just got “The Education of Robert Nifkin” from my Amazon.com pre- order, and I’m thoroughly enjoying it. Now, the back cover mentions you went to high school in Chicago, and knowing your enjoyment of b-movies from your novels, I wonder whether you’ve ever attended the annual 24 hour bad movie festival at Northwestern University? We basically create a ruckus, throwing around paper plates and riffing on the horrible films. When I read the descriptions of people in your books, I can’t help but think that we B-Fest attendees are your sort of people. I’d love to see you there — what an honor!
I'm delighted amazon.com is shipping ""The Education of Robert Nifkin."" The suitably low-paid and outstandingly incompetent people at Farrar Straus and Giroux have yet to send me a single bound copy. I have to mention that this company leads the pack in arrogance, insolence, and stupidity. They managed to produce two books I'm proud of, but if it meant dealing with them again, I'd certainly quit writing.
In my day in Chicago, there was no need of a bad film festival. We had the Clark Theater, (prototype for the Snark).
Dear Mr. Pinkwater,
I just wanted you to know I have almost run my car into ditches several times due to laughing my head off after one of your ATC commentaries. I do not have an e-mail address (haven’t come out of the dark ages yet apparently) and am only able to send this to you via the computers at the college I am attending for summer graduate school. BLAH!!! Thank you for the light and laughter! How is your dog? My husband and I are curious because we have a huge pound puppy which much resembles the one you described on ATC which puked during a car ride. Let us know. We will be checking this page until the summer runs out and possibly sometimes after. Thanks!
If you click on the Car Talk link provided here, they may still have the conversation about canine mobile eructation from last summer. (I would never discuss something like that on ATC). For people like you who are apt to drive into ditches, some modern cars have a humor sensor which automatically switches to a station which carries Rush Limbaugh when I come on.
In the next week I will be taking a very long airplane flight (14 hours in each direction). Do you have any recommendations for something to read on a flight that long? I realize this would be a perfect time to plug _5 Novels_, but I read that on my last trip (and loved it!).
Ian Stoba - Not knowing what else you've read, I'm at a loss. Also, since I never fly on airplanes, I can't even share what I read last time. I feel like such a failure. Why don't people ask me easier questions?
Another of life’s small mysteries falls by the wayside….
With the picture of the birthmark on your hand gracing the cover of Five Novels we now know where the name Manus came from, eh?
–Ian Stoba
P.S. Had it been up to me, my son would have been named Vercinjetarix.
Ian Stoba -- Lucky it wasn't, huh?
