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I met Grant Owen in Newport, Vermont right before the pandemic hit. He was an exhibitor at the annual collector’s fair put on by the Old Stone Museum in Brownington. People bring their collections to share with the public…yardsticks, pez dispensers, old glass…and Grant was there with a table covered in stuffed animals.
Right after the fair, the stay at home order started, but I couldn’t stop thinking about Grant Owen, sheltering in place with a roomful of stuffed animals, which for him are a big extended family. They’re real.
Kids know how to turn objects into living things. It’s like magic. And for some reason it seemed like the perfect antidote to all the Covid 19 news. So I went over to his house on a warm day in late February, and I stood in the snow outside his bedroom window, and we talked for a few minutes about his stuffed animals.
Thank you for posting this–you are an inspiration, as is Grant. Thank you for continuing to do your work even when you feel “underwhelmed.”
Beautiful moments. Yes, when we’re young, we bring things to life and then later on we forget how to do that. Thanks, Grant, for the reminder.
Erica, you always are so genuine when you interview someone. You ask the most interesting questions and draw people out in a kind and thoughtful way. WE are not underwhelmed by your work! Thanks for posting.
I’ve loved every single one of your episodes – and the one with Grant Owen is pure magic in its ability to capture the essence of childhood and remind us all how special children are in their ability to see things in ways that is adults forget how to or think are stupid or childish.
It was uplifting to hear Grant talk about his cloth friends as it dredged up memories of my childhood stuffed friends. Thank you for this beautiful piece.
Please keep the episodes coming! Your insights and the encouragement of others’ sharing gives me something to consider in quiet times. There is a level of genuine that seems to have been lost in most social media outlets prior to our current circumstances. Happy interviewing
Keep doing what you’re doing Erica. I’m overwhelmed by the beauty of your podcasts.
It seems that we are very many to really appreciate what you do, this mixture of what you and all these people are, whose voice you make audible. Thank you
What a treasure! Another ray of sunshine in a dreary time.
Huh, looking back at my own childhood has me asking “what or who were my childhood play buddies” ?? This all makes sense and is Great to look back on for us all !
Thank you Grant for sharing this part of yourself .
Love, Deeba
lovely conversation, erica. your sensitive questions drew out such clear-eyed, honest answers from this amazing self-aware boy, grant owen.
i appreciate your efforts to get a person-to-person interview with him in the vermont winter.
keep going. who knows when i’ll be able to get up there again.
Thanks for illuminating the nooks and crannies of real life, with real people — not the varnished sheen we often feel we need to uphold. When I was about 10, my plastic trolls were alive to me. My older sister gave me shit about it — but I’m with Grant. What has meaning has meaning.