Följa John

You may recall that a few weeks ago we heard from Natalia, who was asking about a term that her Polish family adopted from a Swedish friend. And Natalia’s family used this term to denote another driver on a long road trip, the one who sets the pace for you mile after mile, or the one you keep seeing over and over as each of you passes the other on the highway.

And Natalia was mystified as to why this Swedish friend of theirs used the term follow John in those kinds of situations. And Grant, you and I were mystified too. We hadn’t figured it out yet. No, we had our own terms that we’d come up with, but we didn’t understand the Swedish connection.

But then we got an email. We got an email from a listener in Malmö, Sweden, Karin Tidbeck, who emailed us about a Swedish game that is called Följeljorn, which literally means follow John. And it was a game that was popular when Karin was a kid. And it’s a bit like Simon Says. Karin writes, someone has appointed John and you have to mimic whatever they’re doing. And if you fail, you’re out of the game. Whoever’s last to keep up with John will be the John for the next round.

And Grant, that has to be the answer. Yes, it certainly does. And I’m surprised that we weren’t able to come up with that. But that’s why we have these wonderful listeners. They are our field workers. They’re out there bringing us new knowledge and educating us every single day. And thank you for that. Indeed. Tusen tak, as they say in Sweden.

But you want to know how wonderful Karin is? Karin writes speculative fiction in both English and Swedish, and although they didn’t mention it, I did some digging and learned that Karin’s book, The Memory Theater, is on the New York Times list of best science fiction and fantasy books of 2021. How about that? What is the book called? It’s called The Memory Theater, and the reviewer said it’s a slender, extraordinary jewel of a book. And you can find out more about that book at karintidbeck.com.

Wow, going to have to add that to my list. Yeah. Thank you so much, Karin. We really appreciate it. And we love hearing from writers and readers around the world telling us about the books they’re working on and the books they’re reading. 877-929-9673. Words at waywordradio.org. And on Twitter @wayword.