Estelyn --
No one has picked up on this, but I find your questions interesting:
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Since many of us 'geezers' are old enough to have children (or at least nieces and nephews?), did you read Tolkien's books to your children? Did/do they share your interest, even passion? Or have they developed a completely different taste in literature or do they perhaps even *gasp!* not enjoy reading as much as you do?
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I have a ten-year old and an almost fifteen year old. They are very different children.
My teenager is my "serious student." He read
The Hobbit on his own a year or so ago, and enjoyed it. When he later tried Lord of the Rings, it just didn't click, athough he did like the movie. He does read fantasy, but his tastes are different than my own. Right now, for example, he is ploughing through a number of the Harry Turtledove books. The only fantasy author we share in common, I believe, is Philip Pullman whom we both find fascinating.
My daughter who is normally not a reader is my buddy in Middle-earth. She has auditory processing difficulties so language can be a challenge. However, she has taken both Elves and Hobbits to heart. She fancies herself an Elf, although mom sees her as a hobbit.
Her favorite character is Sam, and mom has obliged by securing her photographs to slash liberally over her walls. We are very slowly reading
The Hobbit together, Alan Lee's illustrated edition. Perhaps, in a few years, she'll get brave enough for LotR. We've even collaborated to collect all six porcelain boxes from New Line Cinema, Department 56. Mom gets them on her bookshelf now, but Gabriela will 'inherit' them when she is older.
Aside from that, my husband scratches his head in puzzlement, and the rest of my extended family is totally blank. I do have a college roomate who shared many of these things with me years ago, and we are still close.
[ October 14, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]