[Opinions] Re: Heidi
in reply to a message by Red Robin
I had a colleague once, born in South Africa to German parents, who had I think five given names (and a long surname) of which the middle one, and the one she went by, was Heidi. She was a good teacher, but caused trouble to the admin department because all those names didn't fit into the school's computer program so she, uniquely, needed to have all her admin done by real humans in the good, old-fashioned way.
I remember being puzzled by the Heidi stories when I was a kid. There were three books: the first one when she was little, then the second one was Heidi Grows Up (and marries Peter) and the third was Heidi's Children. I had them all, in different editions. In the first book, the illustrations showed a child with curly black hair, but in the other two - by a different author - she was shown with long, straight blonde hair. My hair had been blonde until I was about 4 or 5, when it started turning a darkish brown, and I was fascinated by hair that seemed to go the other way, never dreaming that it was a question of what the illustrators thought the public thought Swiss people should look like.
I remember being puzzled by the Heidi stories when I was a kid. There were three books: the first one when she was little, then the second one was Heidi Grows Up (and marries Peter) and the third was Heidi's Children. I had them all, in different editions. In the first book, the illustrations showed a child with curly black hair, but in the other two - by a different author - she was shown with long, straight blonde hair. My hair had been blonde until I was about 4 or 5, when it started turning a darkish brown, and I was fascinated by hair that seemed to go the other way, never dreaming that it was a question of what the illustrators thought the public thought Swiss people should look like.