The face that launched a thousand metaphors

Moritz Thomsen, author of “The Saddest Pleasure: A Journey on Two Rivers,” November’s reading selection of The Spokesman-Review Book Club , has fans all over the world. I’ve already mentioned Marc Covert, the Portland-based writer and managing editor of the bimonthly Web zine Smokebox.net.

Now, thanks to Covert, we have a photo of Thomsen, who died in 1991. The snapshot was taken sometime, Covert says, in 1985 or ‘86.

Wrote Covert, “I’ve attached a photo that my friend Al Mathison (the Peace Corps Volunteer who met Thomsen) gave me. He says this is the only snapshot he ever thought to take of Moritz, sitting in his open-air office at his farm in Tachina (Ecuador).’’

And, Covert added, “Say, did you know that ‘Farm on the River of Emeralds’ and ‘Saddest Pleasure’ are now in print in French ? I have copies of both but of course I can’t find them in this hurricane zone I call an ‘office.’ They should both come up in Google searches though.”

“P.S.,” he added, “are you starting to see what a hopeless Thomsen fan I am?”

Yes. Yes, we are.