Tagged by Ellyn over at Oblique House, here's MY version of the top ten list:
1. Pope Benedict 16. How could he not be #1? Hurray for us, how blessed we are.
2. Bishop Kevin Vann, Diocese of Fort Worth. Breathing life back into a place that had become a little stale. Seminarians are up, the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal are in town. All good signs, in this Mama's book.
3. Thomas Howard, teacher and writer. Absolutely pivotal in my conversion. Without him, I'd still be wandering. I will read anything and everything he writes, and show up to hear him speak any time.
4. Anthony Esolen, teacher and writer. When I'm reading Mere Comments over at Touchstone, and I find myself nodding in agreement, 9 times out of 10 the entry I'm reading has been written my Anthony Esolen. I'd love to meet him in person!
5. Peter Kreeft, teacher and writer (am I a broken record or what?). The clearest mind on the hardest topics. Keepin' it Catholic at Boston College. If you don't have a shelf full of his books, why NOT for heaven's sake?
6. Joseph Pearce, autodidact and writer. Went to a talk he gave on Tolkien. Fascinating. Seemed like a nice guy as well. I like someone who has done a lot of his education himself.
7. Dean Koontz, writer. Fascinating for supporting himself writing in a horror genre, the only genre where I think good and evil still exist (since I don't think horror works without a good to contrast the horror with). His creation of Odd Thomas is enough to make him fascinating to me.
8. John Hassler, RIP, writer. My favorite author. The only person I ever wrote a fan letter to, and he answered it! And not with a form letter.
9. Steven Greydanus, writer, film reviewer, Decent Films Guide. I don't always agree with Steven, but I always start with his reviews. I like his rating system, and I admire his outlook.
10. Fr. Corapi, priest and speaker. Because I need to hear over and over again that we are at war with powers and principalities. And that I need to lace up my boots and get on with it.
11. My fellow Catholic bloggers, who have taught me so much. And who have shown me that an authentic Catholic life need not be humorless and sour. Thank you, all of you.
And I tag:
The Other 2 Mamas
Barb - SFO mom
The Sleepy Mommies
Steven at Flos Carmeli
and
Melanie at Wine Dark Sea (if she's not throwing up)
I haven't thrown up yet. But I feel awful. And I don't think my brain is quite up to thinking hard enough to come up with a list. But I'll file this away for when I'm feeling a bit better.