Joy Hill

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Joy Hill and J.R.R. Tolkien

Margaret Joy Hill (1936-1991) became the secretary of J.R.R. Tolkien during the 1960s, working for George Allen & Unwin since her late teens.[1]

In 1966 she suggested to Tolkien to remove his telephone number from the public directory to avoid phonecalls from fans.[2] Tolkien also asked her legal opinion about denying some fan to write a sequel to The Lord of the Rings.[3]

In 1967 she offered Tolkien a copy of The Children's Treasury of Literature which Tolkien in turn passed to his little grandson, Simon.[4][5]

In 1968 she discovered in Tolkien's library the poem Bilbo's Last Song. Tolkien granted to her its copyright as a gift.[6]

On 30 November 1969 Joy Hill attended the event "An Afternoon in Middle-earth", delivering the speech "Coping with a cult". The programme booklet for the event also included an article by Hill on fan letters to Tolkien, in which she writes:

They come from all over the world; they come in English, French, German and Elvish... they come three posts a day, five days a week; they have been coming for quite some time and they are still coming; no longer just a few a day but an ever-increasing flow [...] The English are cautious in their approach and often begin 'I have hesitated to write and thank you' whereas writers from across the Atlantic are very much bolder. 'Dear darling Professor' wrote one hippy from San Fransisco, 'I have been on a trip to Middle-earth and it is indeed a beautiful place. I must see you'. From Norfolk, Virginia, one letter ended: 'One day I shall corner you on a remote little star and we shall talk'.[7]

Bibliography

Articles

  • 1968: The Bookseller, 3 August 1968
    • "Daily Life of Middle Earth" (p. 374)
  • 1969: An Afternoon in Middle-earth
    • "Daily Life in Middle-earth"
  • 1990: Times (London), 10 December 1990
    • "Echoes of the Old Ringmaster" (p. 16)

See Also

References