T. A. Barron's own life story bears a striking resemblance to the mythic quests that lay at the heart of his many works of fantasy. Barron grew up on a ranch in Colorado where his youthful experiences there led to his lifelong passion for environmental concerns. But as a young man he journeyed from the meadows and mountains of the west to the towering cities of the east, earning a bachelors degree at Princeton and then a Rhodes scholarship to Oxford University. For some years he worked in the concrete canyons of New York City, eventually serving as president of a venture capital firm. Despite his success, Barron seems to have felt something missing from his life.
He states that he had always loved writing and during college and back-packing trips through Asia, Africa, and the Arctic, he wrote stories and poems that were influenced by the magic of the places he visited. Even during his frenetic years in New York he tried to continue getting up before dawn to write. In 1990 Barron turned his back on a highly successful career. Supported by his wife Currie, Barron moved their family of five children back to Colorado so that he could write full time. The proof of his success lies in his many published books, the awards they have garnered and his obvious air of happiness and fulfillment.
Barron argues that, "each of us has to raise our voices in the way we can, and my way is the bard and the storyteller. Maybe a few tales I tell might help change people's views, raise people's sights, give people a sense of the hero that's in themselves. Then I've done my job."[1] He also claims that "this job description is totally compatible with being a present and totally silly Dad" with his children. In addition to accolades, writing has given him the greatest treasure of all, time with his family.
Although Barron's most notable works have been in the genre of fantasy, he dislikes that term. The term "fantasy" has baggage, Barron asserts, "because its easy to do fantasy badly. What you really have to do is create another world that comes alive. You have to make it real and true. The only way to do that that I know you have to do the detail work. You have to build a structure like Tolkein, L'Engle, LeGuin. It can be a different logic from our world but it has to feel true on the level of the senses, the emotions and then –the big one- on the level of the spirit."
Barron suggests that the term "mythic quest" is a better descriptor of this type of fiction than the word "fantasy". The word "mythic," he explains, strikes into human experiences that people have had over different times, races, cultures, and genders — something deeply true about human experience." Mythic "Quest" signifies "an adventure, an exciting voyage of discovery."
This phrase most certainly describes the essence of Barron's many books. On all their mythic quests, Barron's characters, male and female, discover that the treasure that lies at the end of their journeys are the previously unknown qualities of courage or perseverance and wisdom that make a hero.
Although he has been asked if he will return to Fincaira and the world of Merlin that he so adeptly created in "The Lost Years of Merlin" series, Barron feels that Merlin's story is complete. He declares that he does want to return to this cycle of myth "but into a whole new place, the place of Avalon." Child of the Dark Prophecy will begin a new series and enter Avalon a thousand years after has receded into another world. Some of the characters from Fincayra will live on but a new character, Tamwyn, the lost grandson of Merlin, will be the central figure. Barron enthusiastically relates, "I'm having the greatest time inventing languages, peoples, characters, some who are friendly to humans others unfriendly." He declares more seriously, "what I want the book to be about is the dangers of human arrogance, the kind that says we are the only ones who have a pathway to God." The counter to that belief he says is to present "the combination of humility and compassion that is open to other truths." In addition Barron want to raise another question in the series, "humanities relationship with nature."
Looking back on his life's journey, Barron states, "I would never have had the confidence to think I could write books that people would want to read. I'm still amazed by that — seeing all those faces in bookstores and classrooms and at conferences." It is easy to predict that as T. A Barron remains faithful to his long held passion for the natural world and the world of story Barron will continue to delight and enlighten readers in his many books to come.
[1] All quotes in this profile were from
a personal interviews or correspondence with T. A. Barron
