By
Special to The Seattle Times (as told to Jonathan Zwickel)

I HONESTLY HAVEN’T read many of her books, but I’ve read a lot about her, because I’m almost more fascinated about her as a person than her work. Because we were neighborhood acquaintances. I lived right down the street. I’d see her walking from the bus stop carrying armloads of groceries, so I started off asking, “Would you like a ride?”

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    But she’s fierce, you know — she didn’t take a ride from just anybody. She was shy and reluctant, but finally I got her. She said yes. And every few months after that, I’d run into her and give her rides to her house. We’d have these casual conversations, just being neighborly. One day she said, “Would you like to come in?” Sure, I’d love to come in. And she invited me into her house, and we talked for a little bit and she said, “Would you like a book? I’m gonna give you one.” But I haven’t read this book because I don’t want to break [the spine, because it’s signed inside to Terry and his wife]. So instead I listened to her books on tape.

    Terry Morgan’s personal recommendation

    I was inspired to reread “Kindred” because the series is coming out this fall. The concept of time travel that Octavia conceived to transition the main character, Dana, into the antebellum South from contemporary times seems so real and so relevant now. Way before “Get Out” was in the realm of popular film, Octavia put readers in the middle of what I’d consider one of the most frightening situations you can imagine. The horror and the inhumanity of slavery is hard for us to fathom. I’m intrigued by the clarity with which she presents these images and scenarios and thoughts. I won’t go into too much detail for the people who haven’t read the book or are awaiting the series, but it’s a nightmare experience that the characters respond to with grace, and the way the characters are genetically tied together is remarkable. Again, she just blows my mind with where she’s coming from and how she pieces the story together. When the series comes out on FX, I bet it will cause quite a commotion, like “Roots” did. For a lot of people, it’ll be their first encounter with Octavia’s writing, and watching it on screen will be a different experience. I have high hopes. And we’ll see what’s next — this is just the beginning of Octavia on film.



    Her mind was able to go way ahead of our perceptions. From her sense of inequality in our culture to the way she talks about disease and pandemics, she was so Orwellian in her thinking. I have to wonder: How deep does she go?

    But she was very, very cordial over multiple encounters, which is kind of magical, because I never thought I would know anybody that was as astute as her. Sometimes you get intimidated by people because of their intellect, but she never put on airs. She was as normal as you could imagine.

    Terry Morgan is an artist, musician and event producer, and a former neighbor of Octavia Butler.

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