“Let’s Take a Walk Together.”

I want you to be in Austin on May 2nd if you can.

The Princess has chosen the perfect location for The House of Bilbo Baggins, and there’s a chance we may have something for you to see when you get here.

We have also begun construction on The Village of the Lost Boys and we ought to have the first two of the cabins in that village mostly completed by then.

You remember The Lost Boys from Peter Pan, don’t you? Peter tells Wendy about them in chapter 3 of his glittering 1904 novel.

“They are the children who fall out of their perambulators when the nurse is looking the other way.”

“Are none of them girls?”

“Oh, no; girls are much too clever to fall out of their prams.”

May 2nd will be the 20th Anniversary of the birth of Wizard Academy.

In the year 2000, classes were held in the attic of our offices in Buda.

In 2001, we appropriated the little one-room building next door that was originally built as a gym for the employees of Williams Marketing.

In 2004, Princess Pennie located and purchased the plateau across which our sprawling little campus is now draped.

The 6 cabins in The Village of the Lost Boys will raise the number of on-campus rooms to 24, but with a second bed in the loft of each cabin, we will theoretically be able to sleep 30.

And 30 people, ladies and gentlemen, is a very packed Eye of the Storm.

Did you know that The Eye of the Storm classroom and lecture hall in the tower was built by Tim Storm? I always intended to call it The Eye of the Storm since it is where the fierce winds of new information cause us to realize that much of “traditional marketing wisdom” is more tradition than wisdom. It was that loveliest of invisible ladies, Serendipity, that whispered to Tim Storm that he should build it, even though he had no idea what I planned to name it.

I have always depended on the whispers of Serendipity to suggest to the friends of Wizard Academy that they should leave a permanent mark on our campus. Dozens of you have already heard her whispers and acted upon them. On May 2nd, 2020, we’re going to celebrate what you, and she, have done together.

Two weeks ago, Tim Gallagher was in The Magical Worlds Communications Workshop with his delightful daughter, Fallyn. She had never seen Gallagher Lane, that lovely winding sidewalk that leads from The Bell Wall all the way down to Engelbrecht House in the Valley of the Lost Boys. Have you never noticed the beautiful verdigris-bronze plaque in the portal of the Bell Wall? (Don’t worry, Indy says he’s going to show it to you along with a lot of other cool stuff in today’s highly informative rabbit hole. To enter the rabbit hole, just click the image of Indy Beagle at the top of this Monday Morning Memo.)

On January 1, the day after tomorrow, Daniel Whittington will officially take over as Chancellor of Wizard Academy although he’s been doing most of my job for at least two years. Can you believe Daniel has been here for 6 years and that Zac Smith has been serving as Vice-Chancellor for a full year already?

I will remain involved in classes at Wizard Academy and Pennie will continue her duties overseeing the appearance of the physical campus for years to come, but the day-to-day financial obligations and management of your school are now solidly on the shoulders of young brother Whittington.

On May 2nd, we will release that long-awaited guidebook, Secrets of the Wizard Academy Campus, as you and we celebrate our past 20 years together and take a look at what is planned for the next 20 years. Among those things will be the speedy completion of The Village of the Lost Boys and The House of Bilbo Baggins.

And then there is the incredibly important new certification program called The Ad Writers Masters Class.

Indy is tapping the toenails of his right-front paw. I think he’s anxious for you to come and see what he has for you in the rabbit hole.

Roy H. Williams