The Things They Carried – Brilliant Pocket Dumps
Brilliant minds are often a bit off, especially scientists and writers that create entirely new worlds. We can assume that they would carry a pad and pen/pencil to scribble down ideas no matter when they hit, but many go well beyond the norm with what they carry in their pockets or on their person. Pocket dumps are all the rage these days, so let’s take a look at what we would find if we dumped some… more brilliant pockets
Neil Gaiman
Creator of The Sandman comic book series as well as American Gods and numerous short stories of critical acclaim, Gaiman is a fountain pen fiend. He has a vast collection of pens with some esoteric flexible nibs and generally carries a classic Waterman 52 but is known to have his TWSBI Diamond 530 Fountain Pen on him often. “Inspired by writing” is TWSBI’s motto, and Gaiman certainly fits the bill while inspiring another generation of writers and graphic artists.
On The Road with Kerouac
Leader of the Beat Movement Jack Kerouac (On The Road, The Dharma Bums, Big Sur, and many others) was a prolific writer, so it should come as no surprise that he had notebooks on him he died. But what was in these notebooks certainly would amaze anyone: Kerouac was a baseball fanatic and filled his time playing fantasy baseball games—against himself.
Killing the Bull Moose
President. Nobel Prize Winner. Environmentalist. Rough Rider legend. Teddy Roosevelt was all of these in addition to scholar. He was an accomplished author from ornithology to war, and tough as hell. Following an assassination attempt in 1912 in which he was shot in the chest, he still delivered his planned speech because he was not coughing up blood, Teddy Roosevelt remarked “It takes more than that to kill a Bull Moose.” He carried the bullet in his chest for the rest of his life.
But Seriously….
John Ruskin always carried a magnifying glass to study artwork. His early career as an art scholar and critic made this a perfectly logical thing to carry, even as his interests and writings broadened into education and political economy, and he was a major influence up to the First World War. His magnifying glass is in the Houghton Library at Harvard today.
The Inklings
Post World War I—the most influential small group of writers were the Inklings. Charles Williams (All Hallows Eve), CS Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia and others), and the most renowned, JRR Tolkein (Creator of Middle Earth, the Hobbit, and The Lord of The Rings) were all members of the group that would change the world of literature with their fantastic worlds. And, while they did not carry the One Ring in their pockets like Bilbo did, they were pipe smokers and seemingly always had a pipe and tobacco on them. One could almost picture Tolkein as Gandalf in the tavern, smoke rings dancing around his head while he laughed merrily….
Great authors do not always carry unusual objects on their person as they craft worlds with their words. Often they have the mundane. But the common can be the inspiration for creation.
What’s in your pockets? Let us know in the comments, or show us on Instagram!
This is a really cool post, though it is marred by very odd joking about a serious and deadly problem which Jack had. While factually true, mentioning him carrying booze after talking about him dying of internal bleeding seems to be in poor taste. Maybe I am reading it wrong and making an issue out of nothing. But alcoholism is more than just a bad habit.
Thanks for the read Johnny. I’m sure the comment wasn’t meant to be in poor taste, but I can see how it can be read that way. The post has been edited.
First and foremost; half a carpenter pencil in my right back pocket. front right carries my pocket knife and a whole carpenter pencil, as well as my phone. Front left pocket; hand sanitizer and a pair of latex gloves because you never know…
Would be great to stop random people out in the street just to ask if I may have a look.
Sorry if my comment was bullying. I didn’t mean to sound so harsh, now that I read it again. 🙂
Not at all. We appreciate the input 🙂