My Lunch With Natalie Babbitt
Tuck Everlasting, one of the greatest books for young people ever. Jeff and I have wanted to write a musical of the book for some time now. Well today we got to meet Natalie Babbitt the author.
It started two months ago, we had been trying to approach her through her agent, but we were unable to get a straight answer, so through a series of fortunate events we were able to find her home address and wrote her a letter. She answered and when we asked if we could send her our CD she said yes. She listened to the CD and invited us to come up to Providence, RI to have lunch with her.
Today was the day. It started off not so well, we realized that we hadn’t gotten a gift, and couldn’t find an open wine store. We settled on an oversized I LOVE NY coffee cup and made our train.
The train kept getting stopped due to track issues arriving in RI over an hour later than planned.
Despite the lateness, Natalie and her husband Sam were pleased to meet us and brought us up to their beautiful colonial home, which is on the longest street in the country of contiguous colonial houses. It was simple and beautiful.
It took a little while to warm up and create rapport, fortunately Jeff grew up in RI and knew the city, so he was able to get the ball rolling.
Lunch was simple, a big salad, potato chips and brownies The more we talked, the more we realized how wonderful and down to earth they both were.
Then at one point during lunch, Natalie asked Sam to get something. What he brought in was a framed photograph.
If you’ve ever seen a copy of Tuck Everlasting, there is a picture of a little red house in a secluded forest reflected in a lake.
The photo shows that very house. Apparently it was a house that Natalie and Sam had lived in outside Utica.
Jeff and I were blown away, to see the genuine image of the place we had imagined for so long was extraordinary.
As the afternoon continued, we talked more openly with Natalie and Sam as though we were friends.
We got to sit at their piano and play our music box theme and other pieces from the show, then Natalie blew us away again, by bringing out two songs she had written for a college show that Sam had been involved with.. They were simple and old-fashioned, but absolutely lovely and quite well crafted.
Through the afternoon we talked about art, writing, collaboration, the creative process, life, family and everything.
It wasn’t a talk between an adoring fan and an icon, more the discussion you have with a favorite Aunt.
Eventually we had to go, but four and a half hours we got to spend time with the woman whose work has so deeply inspired us.