# Ask the author of Discworld a question **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532 "2009-09-25T16:26:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/1 "2009-09-25T16:26:00Z")
I’ve never read them, but I know lots of you have. [NewScientist is asking for questions to ask him next week](http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17857-what-would-you-ask-terry-pratchett.html). I’ll be disappointed if at least one doper doesn’t get a question asked. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/2 "2009-09-25T17:03:55Z")
I’d ask “Do the **Trousers of Time** have cuffs?” ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/3 "2009-09-25T17:08:08Z")
I wish I could think of something to ask but the time I was at a convention he was at and had him sign a book and ran into him numerous times in the elevator (we were on the same floor) I could only smile stupidly and tell him how much I loved his books. I wanted to start a conversation when I saw him buying a Darwin fish in the dealer’s room but all I could think of was “How about that Darwin, huh?” or “Creationism, pretty silly, right?”. So I just grinned stupidly some more. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/4 "2009-09-25T17:36:12Z")
I thought Terry Pratchett has early onset Alzheimers. If so it’s good to see that he can still do this; if not, better. ---
**Author:** ![vifslan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f4b2a3/32.png) [@vifslan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vifslan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/5 "2009-09-25T20:55:48Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I thought Terry Pratchett has early onset Alzheimers. If so it’s good to see that he can still do this; if not, better. So he does. But after he made the public statement about his disease, he quickly had to make a second one that unanimously stated, “I aten’t dead.” As far as I understand it, as of now, it affects his skills with finding the right word and his writing ability most (on a BBC radio interview, he used the metaphor of typing while wearing thick mittens). Last time I heard, he’s switched to voice recognition software for his writing. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/6 "2009-09-25T21:10:31Z")
Check Terry’s page on Wikipedia (or just about anywhere) to understand his special, rare Alzheimers variant. He has trouble with 3-dimensional thinking–if he picks up his jacket upside down it takes him a long time to get it on–and some other problems. I prepared a question and got a chance to ask it at the First N.A. Discworld Convention: In the dedication to Hogfather (UK edition, not the US, I think) he says a bartender (ppint) asked “the question that Susan asks” in the book. Susan asks a lot of questions! Which one was it? Answer: What does the tooth fairy do with all the teeth? I’ll rack my brains for a clever question regarding a science-related question. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/7 "2009-09-25T23:11:05Z")
I want to know if Foul Ole Ron’s thinking-brain was supposed to be Gaspode from the beginning, or if that was a bit of retconning. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-author-of-discworld-a-question/511532/8 "2009-09-26T20:12:34Z")
> [@](#): > > I want to know if Foul Ole Ron’s thinking-brain was supposed to be Gaspode from the beginning, or if that was a bit of retconning. I thought that was supposed to be obvious: In the first introduction of both, the dog is listed as having the same litany of diseases, including runny bottom, and you can’t get that unless you’re a pregnant ewe.