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Two emails were received in the space of five days in the ninth month of pandemic:
First email:
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hello Alison,
i was watching a movie recently about a girl living on her own in a camper van
– and she was reading found & lost* which I ordered and am now enjoying so much!
do you happen to know my friend L____ L___ L___who has also been coming
here to Amsterdam for many years, from New York?
best from Amsterdam
C___ K____
><><
I wrote to the sender, asked: a) what movie? b) do I know you? and replied c) No, I don’t know L____ L___ L_____
Received a reply to my reply. In it a) a still photo in which a young girl holds my book
“Found and Lost” in her fist

And, further, discovered that the still photo is from the following film

How grand is that?
Have now watched the beguiling film with pleasure and respect. Have a look at its
trailer – “The Short History of the Long Road” ** The lost girl (played oh so sweetly by
Sabrina Carpenter) in the photo is traveling alone in a van across the American southwest, against its mesmerizing landscape. On the journey she reads, among other books, my memoir,
Found and Lost. I’d like to think the book’s travails help the innocent girl on her way to self-discovery. The film was written and directed by young, mega-talent
Ani Simon-Kennedy.
The unknown sender of the email, I’ve now discovered, is a talented male poet/writer living is Amsterdam. I’ve now read some of his work and wait for more to be revealed. He’s a jewel of a poet. (I’ll ask if I might reveal his name. If he says yes, I’ll insert.)
**[
“The Short History of the Long Road” is directed by Ani Simon-Kennedy
;
the film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2019 ]
*[Found and Lost by Alison Leslie Gold – Nottinghill Editions, UK, 2017; NYRB, USA, 2018]
***[
“You don’t know me” by Willie Nelson written by Cindy Walker and Eddy Arnold. Have a listen.]
Wow – Alison – how great is that – a million books the filmmakers might have chosen and they found their way to yours – really really special
What a story/experience/coincidence/omen. Now I must watch the movie. And I want to read the writer’s poetry. Thank you for this extraordinary posting. ❤️