It seems Mr. Gaiman deserves some extra attention, particularly in terms of his mountain metaphor. Here’s another post about this speech from fellow Marcher, Graham Gentz, who writes,
“He [Gaiman ] said that in these days, he became to imagine his goals of being an author of good books and good comics and supporting himself through his words was a mountain. And as long he kept walking towards his mountain, he’d be alright. And whenever he was unsure of what to do, he would stop and think if his choice would take him towards the mountain, or away from it. He said no to editorial jobs on magazines, “proper jobs that would have paid proper money” because taking them would have been walking away from the mountain.”
I tried to summarize this same passage myself yesterday, but was having trouble finding the words. Thanks, Graham!
Two years ago, Neil Gaiman, perhaps my largest living hero, gave the commencement speech to the graduation class of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Mr. Gaiman has not only created some the deepest, darkest, and most intricate stories, novels, and comic books I’ve been privileged to deliberate, but he has done so with a persona of humble, blitheful endearment. As I began the 20 minute video, now immortalized by the internet, my blood ran cold as he explained he had never attended a university.
The concept of intelligence, success and even education not being prefaced solely on a Bachelors and Beyond is not new to me. Frank Zappa, F. Scott Fitzgerald, or Quentin Tarantino, all experienced obvious success, and the clearest examples of technological success coming from Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Gabe Newell, each never finishing college, and each rewriting the game to become…
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A Writer's March 