It takes someone with a very special talent for their work
to live on centuries after their death. There are many obvious names that would
fit into this category; Plato, Shakespeare, Dickens, but I’m referring to two names
that are trending on the Internet today.
One name is, of course, David Bowie. He may well become more
famous, respected and revered after his death than he was during his life. I
suspect that most people in the UK today are singing one of his songs in their
head. I know I am. (we know Major Tom's a junkie...) Many of us have been influenced by his creativity in fashion
and lifestyle. I need say no more about him. The newspapers are full of
accounts of his life and artistic contribution.
The other name is someone featured in today’s Google Doogle,
Charles Perrault, born 388 years ago today. His name might not be so well known
but his stories are very much a part of our country’s culture. He was an advisor
in the French court of King Louis XIV, later becoming an author. He wrote
Little Red Riding Hood making it much clearer than today’s version how the wolf
really represents all those men who prey on young girls walking alone in woods.
He wrote a version of Sleeping Beauty that was based on a 14th
century folk tale. Today’s version is a mixture of this, Grimm’s Briar Rose
which was written as an oral version of Perrault’s story, plus lashings of
saccharine from the Disney writing team. Perrault also wrote such tales as Puss
in Boots and Bluebeard although I’m not sure if these were adaptations of
earlier versions or created by him.
The point I’m trying to make: Wouldn’t it be amazing to think that you’d created something brilliant, made a positive contribution to the world, and as a result your name would go down in history. I suspect I’ve left it too late to try to achieve that for myself but, if any younger people are reading this, then why not give it a go! No, I haven’t got a clue how you’d begin. If I knew that I’d have….
