1. Can you tell us a little about your life in Hungary before coming to the United States?

Lawrence Dorr: I loved my parents, who were glamorous larger-than-life figures who would come into the nursery (where I was ruled by a series of German nannies) to bid me goodnight as they went off to various dinners and functions. I thought they were extremely beautiful. My happiest times were school holidays spent in the country on our settlement where I was free to ride and hunt with the sharecroppers' children. That life fell apart (see Act of Admiration).

2. When did you arrive here? Why?

Lawrence Dorr: I escaped from Hungary (then under communist rule) in 1946 and went to England in 1948 as a European Voluntary Worker (indentured servant), where I worked in coal mines, cotton mills, and (my last most significant job) as a kitchen porter in Shenley Mental Hospital, Hartfordshire. There I met Clare, a psychiatric occupational therapist, who would become my wife. Clare is the daughter of an English Anglican priest (he was also a missionary); her mother hailed from St. Helena's Island, South Carolina. I was allowed into the U.S. as a ‘war bride’ in 1950.

3. Was it difficult to adapt to life here?

Lawrence Dorr: Fortunately for me, ‘culture shock’ had not yet been invented, and I thoroughly enjoyed the absence of bullets (aimed at me) and concentration camps. I experienced my first cocktail party in Beaufort, South Carolina and quickly adapted to the strange ritual of standing about balancing a drink and a plate.

4. When and why did you begin writing?

Lawrence Dorr: I was stricken with a mild case of polio and many childhood illnesses that confined me to bed. Toys weren't enough to entertain me so I created stories in my head, though at that time they were not committed to paper. At twelve I thought of myself as a serious poet, writing long odes and historical narratives in poetic form. At sixteen, because my father refused to give me pocket money, I started writing ‘trashy’ novels; for 125 pages I was paid 25 pengoes. Fortunately, none of my early writings survive.

5. How much of The Bearer of Divine Revelation is true to your life?

Lawrence Dorr: In my stories, fact and fiction are intertwined; by the end of the story I can no longer separate the two. A new reality has emerged.

6. It has been said your stories present ‘a narrative movement of a quest or pilgrimage.’ What are the characters looking for?

Lawrence Dorr: Perhaps my characters are looking for the same things I'm looking for myself: the presence of God, salvation, and grace.

7. What role does faith have in your stories?

Lawrence Dorr: Faith — the lack of it, the doubt of it, the longing for it, the certainty of it — plays a main role in all my stories.

8. Who are your biggest authorial influences — why?

Lawrence Dorr: In my youth I was influenced by the Russian writers (in German translation): Tolstoy, Pushkin, Dostoevsky and others. For entertainment I read Fenimore Cooper's ‘Indian’ stories, also in German translation. I love Shakespeare, Donne, Dickens, and have been much influenced by Faulkner and the King James version of the Bible. These works have a timeless quality that is beyond literary theories.

9. Are you currently writing?

Lawrence Dorr: Currently I am working on the last story in a series dealing with signs and wonders. I start my day by feeding horses and barn cats. By 9:30am I am at my writing place, Myrtle Cottage, only fifteen minutes from the farm. I work on my own writing, then give editorial advice to students who have sent me their manuscripts. I also try to console aspiring writers when that is needed. I leave for home at about three o'clock. The routine varies only when farm work interferes: pasture fertilizing, moving horses to competition sites, birthing, fixing fences or any other work beyond the daily chores.

10. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

Lawrence Dorr: To aspiring authors I would give the same advice Mr. Cummings, the chief editor at Random House, gave me in 1950: ‘If you want to write, neither hell nor high water, nor a mere editor can stop you.’ To that I would like to add: do read great quantities of quality writing. Have a ‘first reader,’ a person who will judge your work on its literary merits, without regard to your politics, religious views, etc. Creative writing classes can be useful too, partly because they provide an audience of your peers.