The Huntsmen of Fiction

Abstract

This particular piece is a recounting of Vera Chapmans meeting with Professor Tolkien – a snippet of their conversations and the people she met. Tolkien, upon meeting her, mistakes Belladonna for another character, and upon correcting him on the name Belladonna he launches into a rant about the poisonous belladonna plant. Took then continues her recounting of the party – meeting an American publisher named Raynor Unwin, and David Grimshaw, the head of science fiction at A&U. Took’s final interaction with Tolkien at this party with him saying “if I can help your society in any way, I will”.