James Rumford reflects on the concept of "borders" during an authors' panel at Crossing Borders through Literature, Poetry and Personal Stories.
About the author: James Rumford combines his life-long love of languages, art, calligraphy and alphabets in compelling picture books that carry young readers to faraway places and long-ago times. A Peace Corps volunteer in both Chad and Afghanistan, he also taught in Rwanda and has lived for many years in Hawaii. Among his award-winning books are: The Cloudmakers; Traveling Man: The Journey of Ibn Battuta,1325-1354; Seeker of Knowledge: The Man Who Deciphered Egyptian Heiroglyphs; The Island-below-the-Star; Chee-Lin: A Giraffe’s Journey; Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing; and Silent Music: A Story of Baghdad. His newest book, Rain School, was inspired by an experience from the time he and his wife were teaching in Chad.
4/7/2011
Well, I think that Alma Flor really said it very well. First she started off today by talking about honor and then she talked about respect. Those two ideas are so important, I think, in today’s world, as cultures come together, as the world becomes more and more fluid. And I think that when you start with the basic human emotion of respect that it is this human emotion that you must always go back to before you begin anything, before you even think about the differences in culture. I respect you, will you respect me? It’s that simple.