Meeting Tom Franklin leaves a lasting impression

A couple of days ago , the English Leistungskurse of the PMHG had the opportunity to meet Tom Franklin at the Stuttgart city hall. Tom Franklin is the author of the crime novel 'Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter', which is compulsory reading for the English Abitur. Even though I initially was not looking forward to this particular event, Tom Franklin managed to leave a first impression so unforgettable and lastin g that I was happy to be granted the privilege of writing this report.

It was a relatively big hall that fit approximat e ly 500 people, with every single seat occupied. The first woman on stage was from the DAZ, the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Zentrum. As usual for events such as this one, her job was to introduce us to Tom Franklin and his novel by talking about its success and its introduction into the English Abitur.

When Tom Franklin entered the room he was anything but eye - catching. He went on talking about his inspiration for the book, explaining the many biographical elements his novel exhibits. He talked about his childhood, his old town, his family, his friends, the good moments and the not - so - good moments. He recounted childhood story after childhood story , and it was then when we realized that we were never really reading the story of Larry Ott, the main character of the novel, but instead the story of himself, the story of Tom Franklin. The stories he told were interesting, immersi ve, and at times also incredibly sad. Thinking back on my experiences, the number of times he made me laugh and the joy it brought me listening to him did not match the content of his tales. His amazing, almost dark sense of humor, paired with the fact that he didn ’ t take himself to o seriously , made everything lighthearted and fun to listen to.

Eventually, towards the end of our time with Tom Franklin , we were given the opportunity to ask him questions about the book , and trust me when I say this : this man does not know what a short answer is. He probably could have talked about his characters for hours, but all good things must come to an end and Tom Franklin had to prepare for his next presentation , so we were promptly asked to leave the hall.

All in all Tom Franklin has a personality that is very hard to forget and leaves a lasting impression. I am happy for being granted the opportunity to meet Tom Franklin and pity the future generations of English LKlers for neither having the privilege of reading his book nor being able to meet the author. (Andronikos Koutsandreas, JS2)