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Amor Towles, the author of one of my favorite books, The Lincoln Highway, was interviewed by Jenna Bush recently at the Aspen Ideas Festival.
During the interview, Amor shared the influence his Mentor has had on his success… While at Yale as an undergrad, Amor took a seminar with his hero, writer Peter Matheson, who enthused, “Based on the three stories that you’ve submitted, Amor, I think there’s a possibility that you may be gifted at writing.” Amor reflected, “That was a major turning point in my life.” It was the first time an outsider – someone who Amor admired and respected – acknowledged his talent. Peter continued to mentor Amor in the years following graduation, encouraging Amor’s writing pursuits. When Amor finished his first draft of Rules of Civility, he sent the manuscript to Peter with a note: “I feel really good about it. This is the first book I’ve written that is worthy of submission, and I’m interested in your feedback. It’s about a 25-year-old woman set in the 1930s.” Peter responded brusquely: “Amor, I can’t understand why you continue to write about the 1930s. To be honest, this is a terrible thing. And I find that spunky, opinionated, witty women are boring in fiction.” Amor was undeterred. He fine-tuned his book and sold the publishing rights at auction. When Rules of Civility hit the bestseller list, Peter sent the following note: “This is what we call eating crow. My sister, who’s one of the greatest readers I’ve ever known, said that the minute your book ended, she was sad it was over and wanted to start again. That’s as much as you could ask of a book.” Amor reflected that having his Mentor dislike his manuscript was almost as valuable as having his Mentor validate his talents at age 19. “It meant that this book worked even though my hero didn’t like it. It was a lesson to me as an artist that I have to have confidence in my work, even when my mentors or my friends don’t care for what I’ve created.” Mentors don’t have all the answers – their value lies in recognizing and supporting our potential as we find our own answers. The edge we get from mentoring is confidence. And that confidence gets revealed when we start believing in our work when others don’t. © 2025. Ann Tardy and MentorLead. www.mentorlead.com. All Rights Reserved. |