Famous Literary Relatives

A cousin asked why I haven’t told the world who our famous literary relative is?

I looked at her and laughed and asked “Are you kidding me?”

She looked perplexedly at me and said, “No, other people bank on famous relatives…why don’t you?”

I never seriously thought about it. I didn’t think about it even when I studied their work in high school and college. I figured if I said anything the teacher and professor would expect me to know the meaning of every symbolism or allegory in all their works. 

So to get her off my back I asked why haven’t you told everyone you know?

“I don’t write and if I did I would tell every one I know.” She replied.

I  reminded her. “And then everyone would compare all your work to theirs and if you didn’t measure up to a Pulitzer Prize winner’s standards they would spend all day saying. “Your relative wrote such and such. What’s wrong with you? Why are you writing the same topics they wrote about?” You would never get a chance to talk about your own work for theirs would always overshadow yours.”

“I think you inherited the family’s talent.” She said, trying to coax me into placing this fact in my biography. 

I promised her when I win a Pulitzer Prize is when I will tell the whole wide world. “Guess what? I’m not the first in my family to win this. My ____ won this prize in _____” But until then, I prefer to be judged on my own merit not compared to our relative.

She still disagreed with me but that’s ok. LOL! I told her to shut and go buy a book and it better be one of mine.