I am not a groupie!

I really, really do not consider myself a groupie. I mean really! However, I have begun to realize that I do have some very intense enthusiasms about some things. I never thought of these enthusiasms as falling into the realm of "groupie," but...well, I dunno. So I looked up the definition of groupie and found the following:

1. A fan, especially a young woman, who follows a rock group around on tours.
2. An enthusiastic supporter or follower: a ballet groupie; a fashion groupie.
3. An admirer of a celebrity who attends as many of his or her public appearances as possible.
4. An enthusiastic young fan (especially a young woman who follows rock groups around).

So, since I'm not that young ::cough::, and I'm not female, and I don't follow anybody around, then I must not be a groupie. The term "enthusiastic supportor or follower," however, might apply to me in so far as my enthusiasms go.

For example, I used to have an inordinate passion for Tom Sawyer. I had read the book at least twenty times by the time I was ten, and could quote entire passages by memory. I copied my life after Tom, emulating him in every way that I could imagine. I eventually shifted my interests over to Huckleberry Finn as I got older, and even today I still re-read Huckleberry although I have largely abandoned Tom.

As I write this I am reminded more and more of various books and authors that I have developed a great liking for. In the late sixties I became interested in Tolkien's Ring Trilogy almost concurrently with Casteneda's early books on his apprenticeship with the brujo, Don Juan. In the early seventies I also developed a passion for Mary Renault's books on ancient Greece. Years ago I became enamoured with Roger Zelazny's books on Amber--a series of ten books compiled together in the Great Book of Amber (see the Amber Chronicles). More recently I began an interest in Anne Rice's vampire books. Oh and Colleen McCullough's series on ancient Rome. When I say that I became interested in these authors and their books, I mean that I read and re-read these books over and over and have for years. Yes, I have read more of the high brow classics than the average person, but with a few exceptions, I never had the slightest inclination to read them over and over. The only movie that I developed an intense liking for was Blade Runner which I still can't get enough of.

However, these aren't real people! The only real person that I have such an enthusiasm for and whom I actually might follow around (if he were still alive), and about whom I continually read biographies of is...Charles Darwin. I mean it's not that unusual to light candles before his portrait in my home is it? And incense...and just because I call him "Saint Darwin" doesn't make me a groupie does it?