[Child of the 7th Age]

I'm a "mom", and I know a number of other posters on this site are also moms. I also know teenagers who stick up their noses at Tolkien, and others who absolutely love Middle-earth. I don't think it's a matter of age, but of interest and desire.

My youngest daughter, who is ten, saw the movies, and has become more interested in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings because I talk about them to her. (She's a big fan of Aragorn and Arwen.) She's done a book report on The Hobbit and is now doing a biograpical project on Tolkien using the Scholastic book by Coren.

I am not in the least bit worried that either she or I will lose our lives by thinking about books, even a particular series of books that happen to have been written by Tolkien.

Like another poster said, there are many people crazy about sports who have no trouble finding someone in their everyday life to share their "obsession" with. But when you like Tolkien (or the Arthurian legends, or something else along those lines), it gets a lot harder to find someone with similar interests. My husband spends many happy hours going to baseball games, hunting for collectibles, reading about baseball in magazines, books, and newspapers. I invest that same time on this site, because it gives me a chance to write and think and interact with people who have interests similar to my own.

Is it an obsession? I prefer to think of it as a healthy "passion". And our world would be a lot blander if there weren't folk around whose hearts were driven by the interests (and the people) that they love.