T hen the tenth anniversary literary lion gala came around. Ten batches of lions, some two hundred in all, assembled at the library. We had cocktails with the patrons, then we were led to a hallway outside the glittering dining hall. And you have to realize that real life is not like college.
Real life is like high school.
Sometimes, in fact, it is like grammar school. For in that hallway a harried man with a clipboard lined us up alphabetically. There we stood, waiting to make our individual entrances. I got along fine with Judy, but Harold and I didn't really hit it off. I thought I would break the ice by mentioning The Book of J, a new translation of an ancient scroll alleged to be the kernel from which not only the Old Testament but also the Koran and the Torah eventually derived.