Today, October 17, would have been Robert Jordan's 71st birthday. There've been a number of tributes to him on social media, but Amazon Prime's official WoT on Prime account is requesting fans to submit messages and video clips describing what the series means to you.

Happy Birthday Robert Jordan! On his 71st birthday, we celebrate our favorite author for creating a world so incredible, it gets better with age. In his memory, tell us what the Wheel of Time has meant to you. Tweets, videos, art are all welcome responses. #WOTonPrime pic.twitter.com/BnKiD7CgoA

— The Wheel of Time on Prime (@WoTonPrime) October 17, 2019

So please leave a message on WoT on Prime's Twitter or Instagram feeds, or you can reply to any of Dragonmount's social media accounts with your message. Bu use to use #WoTonPrime and #Dragonmount in your messages. 

Happy birthday, Robert Jordan!

Here is an old audio clip of Robert Jordan speaking to a crowd of fans at a signing in Toronto, during the 2003 tour of Crossroads of Twilight.  Though relatively short, this clip is amazing to hear.  Mr. Jordan obviously had a flair when speaking to a group, and his humor really gets the gathered fans going.  The audio quality is not the sharpest, but the transcript—compiled by three fans, Rose Kraftick, Michael Seefeldt, and Canute Peterson—is posted as well. 

Quote

ANNOUNCER

Writers are certainly fascinating creatures, and of no one is this more true than tonight’s author Robert Jordan. Born James Oliver Rigney, Jr. He has a degree in physics, is a veteran of the Vietnam War, is a history buff, has written dance and theater criticism, and he collects pipes. The website didn’t specify which kind. I’m going to assume it’s the ubiquitous pipe.

He began his writing career with historical, with historical fantasy sagas using the pseudonym Reagan O’Neal and he’s since written under a number of pseudonyms including the one we’re all interested in tonight, Robert Jordan.

As Robert Jordan our esteemed guest. Sorry. As Robert Jordan, our esteemed guest is the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling fantasy series The Wheel of Time, which began in 1990 with the publication of The Eye of the World. Since then he has published nine novels in the series, including the just published Crossroads of Twilight.

Typically accorded the same respect as J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Jordan’s writing has been described as distinguished, finely-tuned, definitive, intelligent, lyrical, panoramic, vivid, intricate, and compelling. Please give a warm welcome to Robert Jordan.

ROBERT JORDAN

What kind of pipes, my dear? The usual kind of pipes. Three inch, four inch, six inch, PVC, elbow joints, you know, that sort of thing. No, the pipes or that, uh, soon to be illegal substance tobacco. I’m a packrat. I collect pipes, and (unintelligible), and paintings, and walking sticks, and antique swords, and antique daggers, and ah, just about every other bloody thing that I could think to take a liking to, so as I said, a packrat.

Now, I’m not going to speak very long because I will quickly bore you and I hate the sight of a crowd going to sleep. I will begin by answering a few questions that you haven’t asked yet. But you will. You will, my dears, if I let you come down here, without answering them, half of you will ask these questions.

So I will answer.

The woman’s name is Nigh-neeve (Nynaeve). It’s Egg-wayn (Egwene). Not Egg-ween, and NOT Egg-weenie. Eggwayn. Sigh-deen (saidin). Sigh-dahr (saidar). Shawn-chahn (Seanchan). Tell-ahrahn-ree-odd (tel’aran’rhiod) Kigh-ree-ehn (Cairhien) Ah-vee-end-uh (Aviendha) Figh-eel (Faile) Eyes Suhd-eye (Aes Sedai) Swan San chey (Siuan Sanche). Okay? Okay.

Now, hmm. Who killed Asmodean? Someone has deduced exactly who killed Asmodean, using the evidence that I have presented in the books. Well the surprise is in Crossroads of Twilight, it’s there. This shows it can be done. I have not told that person that they presented me with a correct deduction. I insist that it is intuitively obvious to the most casual observer and besides, I enjoy watching you squirm. How I delight.

Oh, let’s see now. When is the next book coming out? Without any equivocation whatsoever, I swear to you, on my mother’s grave, and my mother is dead, so she has a grave upon which I can swear, and I do swear upon my mother’s grave that the next book will be on the shelves, in stores, very slightly after I finish writing it. And you can take that to the bank.

Now, oh yes, how many books are there going to be? Now that’s a complicated question. Because you see, the fact is, I knew the last scene of the last book about 1984. I could’ve written it then. I knew where I was going before I started writing The Eye of the World. I started writing The Eye of the World thinking I was going to write five or perhaps six, where I was telling everybody they were novels but I knew I was writing five or six parts of a novel, and taking a little bit of a chance doing it. But, uh, problem was that I was over optimistic about how much of the story I could fit in any one volume. So, I remember the announcement that Tor Books had issued a fourth volume of The Wheel of Time Trilogy, well we’ve now gotten to the tenth volume of The Wheel of Time trilogy, and there are going to be at least two more books. I cannot finish it in fewer than two, I’m not certain that I can actually finish it in two because I know exactly what has to happen between now and that last scene. Those of you who think you know what has to happen, don’t be too sure, because I mean to resolve the major plotlines, I mean to resolve some of the minor plotlines, but I intend to leave other minor plotlines hanging.

I’ve always hated reaching the end of a book or trilogy – happens most often in fantasy, but it does happen other places – you reach the end of a trilogy and all of the major characters’ problems are solved, all of the minor characters’ problems are solved, all of the city’s problems are solved, all of the nation’s problems are solved, all of the world’s problems are solved and there isn’t any juice left in any of it. It’s squeezed dry and I for one find myself wanting to put it on a shelf, set a bell jar over it to keep the dust off.

Well, I’m going to give you an ending that has minor plotlines simply abandoned in mid-course, so that you have it in your head the story is over but the world is still out there kicking. The peoples’ stories haven’t ended, just this one. And I’m going to do something meaner than that. In the last scene of the last book, I am going to set a hook, and the unwary among you will say “Ah, he’s setting us up for the sequels,” but I’m not. That hook is going to be exactly the same thing. The major characters will have completed this story, but their lives won’t be over. They have a lot of life left to live. I just don’t intend to write about it, that’s all.

Now, ah, I think I’ve answered most of the frequently asked questions, so what I’m going to do is I’m going to slip over there, and then sit down, and then somebody, I hope to God, is going to arrange you in some order and file you up here for me to sign books.

Okay? Okay.

On this day in 1948, one of the greatest storytellers who ever lived, Robert Jordan, was born. I felt kind of inadequate when we were asked if one of the front page bloggers wanted to write the tribute article for Robert Jordan's birthday. I finally decided I would do it after Jennifer Liang posted the link to Richard Fife's 2011 JordanCon speech. Not only did I read the speech, I also watched the entire opening ceremony of JordanCon 3. Knowing as little as I do about the people Robert Jordan had around him and the people that lead the fandom, I was pleasantly surprised that Harriet, Alan, and Maria all actively took part in the opening antics.

Regretfully, I didn't find The Wheel of Time until late 2010 or early 2011. I devoured the series, though, when I did find it. My first read, from New Spring to Towers of Midnight, took six months. My introduction to the fandom happened by stumbling across tWoTcast when I was searching for information on the next book. Through tWoTcast, I found Dragonmount back in November 2011. That is where I first started to learn about the man we know as Robert Jordan, the man who re-ignited my own desire to write. It saddened me to find out I would never get to meet the man in person, to see the kind of man who could take an idea and turn it into such a magnificent piece of work.

Although I never got to meet him, by reading his work, I felt like I got to understand the man behind the words. To me, he seemed the type that loved a good story, whether he was telling the story or just listening. I get the impression that if he were in a crowded room of noisy people, he'd only have to say, "I have a story to tell" at normal volume and he would have everyone's attention until he finished, no matter the length of the tale. From this and the short bit I learned of the people he kept closest to him, I realized something. Robert Jordan wasn't merely a writer. He was a storyteller, which is so much more. A writer writes for fame, money, or other similar reasons, but a storyteller writes because he enjoys telling the stories he has. I was guilty of wanting to be a writer when I started my own project back in high school. After entering the Wheel of Time community and seeing how other fans view Robert Jordan in comparison to other authors, I realized I was writing for all the wrong reasons. I know it may sound cliche, but I want to be like Robert Jordan. It's not so much that I want to write like him, but I want to be able to bring people all over the world together to share a common interest. Since November last year, I've talked to people from Africa, England, Israel, Norway, Canada, and so many other places, and it blows my mind that it's all because of one man. One storyteller who has told one of the most amazing stories ever written. So to you, Robert Jordan, I say thank you, and happy birthday. Whatever adventures you've found in the great beyond, I'm sure you'll have plenty of new stories to tell us when we join you.