Meeting Richard Dawkins: Part 1 - The prelude

As soon as I confirmed my spot at the American Atheists convention, I contacted Richard Dawkins’ media person to try to arrange an interview. I was surprised when I received an e-mail letting me know that it could be arranged. I was instructed to contact her again when the convention was closer to work out the specifics.

Two weeks before the convention, I set up a time for the interview. It was to take place on Saturday during the convention after Richard’s book signing, which was immediately to follow his presentation. I don’t think I have to tell you how excited I was.

Although I had been following Richard for some time, even more after I started writing this column, I started to devote quite a bit of time to researching him. I wanted to be prepared for the interview. And, I wanted to ask Richard some “fresh” questions. After all, what does one ask him that he hasn’t been asked many times before. His career is lengthy and he has been interviewed many times. Add to that all the debates he has participated in, all the speeches he has delivered, and all the books he has written, and you can see why it might be difficult to find anything original about which to talk.

Besides wanting to bring something unique to the table, I wanted to get a better feel for the man behind the public persona. Consider Richard’s reputation in certain circles. It's no secret that he has been referred to as strident and arrogant by some people. I suspected, though, that the truth of the matter was that what was being defined in those terms was more likely to boil down to passion and confidence.

I figured the best way to achieve both of my goals was to try to keep the interview conversational. Of course, for me, that is a tall order. I am horrifically shy and, more often than not, I am uncomfortable talking to people I don’t know. Throw in the fact that he is Richard Dawkins and I’m… well, me.

Richard Dawkins is a global celebrity. That aside, he is an intellectual giant by my standards (or by any standards). Although I consider myself to be relatively intelligent, I am no Richard. I am intelligent enough to know that.

Finally, it was time for me to drive to Atlanta. I arrived on Thursday night. Although I caught a glimpse of Richard during the registration/meet and greet, I did not have my first encounter with him until the following evening.

I ventured into the bar sometime after dinner on Friday to spend some time getting to know Jeffrey Mark, an author I was going to be interviewing the next day. When we walked in, I noticed that Richard was sitting at a table with Karen Owens who is on the Board of Trustees for The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. I wanted to introduce myself as a way of confirming the interview.

The shyness thing kicked in. Also, I took into consideration that Richard is often accosted at events like this because of his celebrity. I had personally witnessed people falling all over themselves during the convention just to breathe the same air as Richard and I didn’t want to come across as a star-struck fan girl. And, of course, me being me, I didn’t want to impose. I really am uncomfortable “bothering” people. As a side note, I could never be a salesperson.

However, I reminded myself that I was at the convention in a press capacity and that I needed to put my personal B.S. aside and do my job. So, off I went. I introduced myself to him as the person who had an interview scheduled with him for the following day. He asked me to repeat my name and asked me for whom I wrote. He repeated the time of the interview back to me. I thanked him and told him I would see him the next day.

I walked back to my table wondering if his person had let him know about the interview. I reminded myself that he must get approached all the time and that he most likely was making sure that I was who I said I was with the intentions I claimed.

On Saturday, I attended Richard’s presentation. Although it was interesting and littered with humor, I must admit that I found it difficult to focus, as I was nervous about the coming interview. After he finished speaking, a Q&A session started. When that was over, he was escorted to the table that was waiting at the head of an already growing line of admiring fans who were waiting to get his autograph.

I went back to my room to get my copy of The God Delusion so that I could get Richard to sign it. I waited until the line died down and walked up to the signing table. After he signed my book, he looked up and smiled. Then, much to my delight he said, “You’re the one I’m doing the interview with, right?”

A couple of people came in behind me so I stepped aside to give Richard the opportunity to finish up. In the meantime, a couple of people asked me if I wanted them to take a picture of me with Richard. I said, “No, thank you.” They seemed puzzled. “Are you sure?” they asked. I was certain.

I think what it comes down to is that I wanted more than an “image” of Richard Dawkins. Let’s face it; there are images of him everywhere. Besides, with the interview in mind, I knew that what I was about to get would be far more valuable to me than any picture ever could be and I wouldn’t need a picture to remind me.

After he finished up, we spoke for a bit and I told him that because it was lunchtime, I would understand if he wanted to postpone. Also, immediately following the lunch break, Nate Phelps, the estranged son of religious zealot Fred Phelps, was scheduled to speak. Richard wanted to see that as much as I did. We agreed that we would find each other later to do the interview. He said he would grab me when he had some spare time. Karen was with him and told me that if Richard didn’t grab me, I was to grab her so that she could make sure that the interview happened. I have to take a moment here to say how wonderful Karen is. She was so helpful and accommodating.

As it turned out, I ended up conducting an interview with someone else during the remainder of the lunch break. It ran long and I missed almost all of Nate’s speech. I was disappointed, and after hearing what Richard would tell me later, I was even more saddened to have missed it. Among other things, Richard said, essentially, that it was gut wrenching and moving and perhaps one of the best presentations of the convention.

Fast forward to Saturday night, about 20 minutes before dinner…. I saw Richard sitting in the bar. Again, he was talking with Karen. Again, I felt funny about approaching him. You know… that whole “I really hate to bother him” thing. After about 10 minutes of hem hawing (what does that mean?), I walked over to Richard to see if we could hone in on a time. Karen suggested that he set something up with me for the following day. So, we agreed that we would meet at noon on Sunday.

I woke up at 10:00 am Sunday morning. I was up very late the night before. I started packing my bags – checkout time was noon. I tried to get all of my things down to my car as quickly as possible so that I would be ready. At around 11:30, I checked out of my room and went to hang out in the lobby and wait.

There were several convention attendees coming and going whom I had met throughout the weekend, so I was able to keep myself occupied while waiting for Richard. I ran into Karen who told me that she would call Richard for me as soon as she finished some business with someone who was standing near me.

True to her word, she got out her phone to call Richard for me when she finished her business. No sooner had she started to dial, he came walking through the lobby. I pointed him out to her and she went after him. After a few minutes, they came over to me.

Together we decided to do the interview in Richard’s suite where we would have quiet and privacy. As we waited for the elevator, Richard asked me how much time I thought it would take. “About 15 minutes?” he asked. I responded with “30?” He agreed.

As we rode the elevator and walked the seemingly never-ending hallway to his suite, all I could think was that it was finally going to happen. And, standing there at his door I realized that I was on the threshold of getting a glimpse at the man behind the image.

For more on this story:
Meeting Richard Dawkins: Part 2 - The man behind the image
Meeting Richard Dawkins: Part 3 - The interview