“Let’s fix it”: That was Patricia Highsmith’s standard reaction when Thomas Bodmer told her that a certain text passage didn’t quite work for him. In the early 1970s, Thomas Bodmer worked as an editor for the publishing house Diogenes and was given the opportunity to work with the world known author. And we had the privilege to welcome Mr Bodmer in our English class at the Literargymnasium.

Beforehand, we had read and analyzed Highsmith’s The Talented Mr Ripley. With Bodmer’s visit in mind, we prepared questions in class in different groups, each with a different topic. Mr. Bodmer skillfully took control of the conversation at the beginning of the lesson and first gave us a brief introduction to the work of an editor. A number of students in the class immediately came forward with questions, which Mr Bodmer answered openly and honestly. How was working with Patricia Highsmith? “She was very pragmatic and professional”, Bodmer said. She would willingly change a passage when he made suggestions - “let’s fix it”!

What was the famous writer like in private? “She wasn’t one for small talk”, Bodmer said. “She wouldn’t give away many details about her private life.”

After just a few minutes, most of the questions had been asked, but this did not pose any problems, as new questions kept coming up as the class continued the discussion. Mr Bodmer answered every question asked. In retrospect, it can be said that Mr. Bodmer was able to give us a very interesting and authentic insight into his life as an editor as well as his personal and business relationship with Patricia Highsmith. On behalf of the class, we would like to thank Thomas Bodmer once again for the visit and Mr Kellenberger for organizing it.
 

Joscha Lengen and Julian Misteli, 6b