Duffie, Charles 1960-

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DUFFIE, Charles 1960-

PERSONAL: Born July 13, 1960, in Hollywood, CA; son of Donald (in the automotive field) and Midori (Nakamura) Duffie; married Jennifer Ann Peterson (in education), May 31, 1998; children: Hanako. Education: Attended Lutheran Bible Institute.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Tracker One Studios, P.O. Box 13950, Richmond, VA 23225. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Great Plains Software, Fargo, ND, writer, 1993-96; Sundog (media and communications company), Fargo, ND, writer and cofounder, 1996—.

MEMBER: Realist Wonder Society (founder).

WRITINGS:

The Mole and the Owl: A Romantic Fable about Braving the Wide World for Love, Hampton Roads (Charlottesville, VA), 1997.

(With Susan Ekberg) Little Spiritseeker, Spiritseeker (Fargo, ND), 2000.

(With Ken Eagle Feather) The Dream of Vixen Tor, Tracker One Studios (Charlottesville, VA), 2001.

The Mole and the Owl was originally published on the Realist Wonder Society's Web site.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Theatrical adaptation of The Mole and the Owl, and a work of fiction, Sailing Through, both due in 2004.

SIDELIGHTS: Charles Duffie is a native of Hollywood, California, who relocated to Fargo, North Dakota, and there founded a media and communications company, Sundog, and the Realist Wonder Society. On the Web site for the latter organization, he published The Mole and the Owl: A Romantic Fable about Braving the Wide World for Love. The story was discovered by Hampton Roads, who produced it in book form. At a little over a hundred pages, with thirty full-color illustrations, the book is considered by critics a parable for adults and children to share, teaching heartfelt lessons about the transformative power of love, and about courage, faith, and compassion. "It is easy to forget how important fairy tales, parables, and fables have been as teaching tools or pure means of expression," remarked reviewer Paul McDonald in the Louisville Eccentric Observer Online. McDonald noted the influence of Joseph Campbell, especially his "Hero's Journey" and treatise on archetypal imagery, as well as Kahlil Gibran's seminal discourse on love in the New Age, The Prophet, in Duffie's subject matter, themes, and development. "Many writings on the Internet are amateurish and of low quality, if not highly questionable taste, but Duffie's piece is an extraordinary exception," concluded McDonald.