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Silas House is the author of five novels, including A Parchment of Leaves. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times and a former commentator for NPR's All Things Considered. House is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers and is the winner of the E. B. White Award, the Nautilus Award, the Appalachian Book of the Year, the Hobson Medal for Literature, and other honors.
Silas House's website
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From the moment my first child was born, everything was different:
the way the world sounded, the quality of light, the endless possibilities of both hope and danger. The first time I held her I knew I would try to be the best person I could be in ways that I never had before. I would do everything in my power to protect her. There was no limit to how far I would go.
That was the moment my new novel, Southernmost, was born, too, although I would not know that for a couple of decades. Over the next twenty years, while learning how to be a parent, I would also learn more about myself. I'd feel the life-altering
power of loving someone else more than yourself. I'd know the vengeful anger that rose toward someone who hurt my child. Most of all I'd discover that the primary emotion involved with being
a parent is powerlessness, of ultimately realizing that there is only so much you can protect your child from, no matter how hard you try. I always knew I'd do anything for my child, but most of the time parents are stuck in a purgatory of having no control at all.
So, it is always a great shock for me to hear of people who make the choice to reject their children who come out to them. I cannot wrap my mind around...
If there is anything more dangerous to the life of the mind than having no independent commitment to ideas...
Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!
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