I’m saddened by how few people know the writing of Zenna Henderson. Her books and stories were a combination of non-technical sci-fi, psychic powers like magic, deep spirituality and strong emotional resonance. Although she did not write TG fiction, she wrote often of what it feels like to be the outsider, to be miserably alone and then to find a community of people like yourself. For that reason she may be of interest to BCTS readers.
Ms. Henderson is primarily known for her books Pilgrimage: The Book of The People, and The People: No Different Flesh, (collected with additional stories into Ingathering: The Complete People Stories), but she also wrote collections of short stories, The Anything Box and Holding Wonder.
I went into this in detail because her writing–while somewhat dated in style, perhaps (written mostly in the 1950s-70s)–is deeply emotional, lyrical, and contains characters and scenes that will stick with you for years. If you haven’t heard of this marvelous woman, I hope you will check your local library, used bookstore, or Amazon.
http://www.adherents.com/lit/bk_Zenna.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenna_Henderson
http://www.amazon.com/Zenna-Henderson/e/B000AQ4Z6Y/ref=sr_tc...
Comments
Zenna Henderson
I can remember reading the stories many years ago, and thoroughly enjoying them. I've been a member of the Science Fiction Book Club since the 1950s. About every ten years or so I have to purge my library. There're just too many books. Hers went to new homes somewhere along the way. The only ones that I have kept from that period have been the Heinlein. I have kept a few of the newer ones, but hundreds have gone away.
Portia
Zenna Henderson Collected
The entire series was collected in Ingathering: The Complete People Stories of Zenna Henderson, currently available in hardback on Amazon.com for US$23.
There was one movie, called The People starring Kim Darby and William Shatner. It wasn't very good, but it's available on DVD.
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Cheers,
Puddin'
A tender heart is an asset to an editor: it helps us be ruthless in a tactful way.
--- The Chicago Manual of Style
A Note about the Music (Or a Note about the Notes ...)
Yes, the movie wasn't very good, but of interest for film buffs (or fans of Seventies Cinema) is that Francis Ford Coppola was the Executive Producer; right after American Graffiti. Also, Francis' father Carmine Coppola composed the score, which includes a lilting flute-like melody that still haunts me to this day.
Shatner and Darby, not so much ...
Karin
I remember
Her stories fondly. Very in depth emotionally.
Maggie
Extreme emotional connection.
The depth and warmth of her characters and her writing, struck me like a thunderbolt. It was her writting that first tempted me to write, when I was in the 11 grade. The people felt real to me, like she was just documenting real events, not writing fiction. I would dream at night about encountering these people, and form a lasting relationships.
I need to re-read the stories again, to remember.!
With those with open eyes the world reads like a book
The People...
Smile. I remember as a child buying a beat up second-hand old book somewhere, called "14 Great Tales of ESP". A collection by various authors (including "Project Nightmare" by Heinlein... which is why I bought it), that book also included a tale called "Ararat", by Zenna Henderson. That was my introduction to her work, and as with others I was enchanted by "The People" — not just the book by that name, but by the idea of the People themselves. Pilgrimage, The People, The Anything Box, and Holding Wonder... all were on my bookshelf at one time.
Sadly, circumstances forced me to part with much of my library at one point, and I was only able to keep a couple boxes of my very favourite books. The People and Pilgrimage made that cut (and are sitting across the room from me at the moment), while the other two I regretfully parted with. Few collections made that cut, but oddly enough the "14 Tales" thing also is still with me. They really were the great tales the title claimed... and that definitely includes "Ararat", which I still like to read on occasion.
I seem to remember that there was speculation that Zenna's People were the "inspiration for" (possibly even plagiarized by, depending on who you ask) the imitating book behind the Disney classic "Escape to Witch Mountain" series of movies... which *were* well done (albeit aimed at kids). Smile. A movie that I really related to when I was a kid and saw it on TV. A young girl who looked like anyone else on the outside... but was very different inside. How could any TG child not relate to that?
Curiously enough...
I came across this link last night on Youtube while searching for another film(Trollenberg Terror, if anyone is interested):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyaaQdaQID4
I read The People: No Different Flesh when I was in high school... shhhhhh.. a long time ago in a gender dysporic galaxy far far away.
Love, Andrea Lena
Thank you for the link!
Yes, I immediately went to watch it and it's, uh, creaky ...
But the melody (that I remembered as a flute in my Reply above) comes about 30 minutes in, when Kim Darby gives the Francher kid a harmonica. He plays it for the other children, who begin to Remember ...
Thank you for giving me back that melody!
Karin
Is Zenna Henderson alive?
If so, why has she stopped writing?
May Your Light Forever Shine