The word “fan” can be tricky. Especially with my audience. Coming from a more theological background, the word “fan,” etymologically rooted in the word “fanatic,” can be an indication of some sort of idolatry. I think we all know people who take fandom too far. Hooliganism is an example, but every town, team, or famous band, performer, artist, celebrity, etc. has fans who go too far with their inordinate love for someone or something.

Vonnegut identified fandom as a form of a Granfalloon, that is – “a group of people who affect a shared identity or purpose, but whose mutual association is meaningless.” Like this: I attended Texas Tech, and you could say I am a Texas Tech Red Raiders fan. If I am at a game, or at the store, or having a beer at a sports bar, I might identify with and form a passing camaraderie with another Texas Tech fan, though we really have nothing else at all in common. That’s a granfalloon.

However, I’d like to talk about a different sort of fandom.

In my last column here, I shared with you that my wife and I attended our first Brownwood Lions high school football game. And I explained how I decided that I could become a fan of the local team even if I didn’t grow up here or attend Brownwood High.

This type of “fandom” is rooted in supporting something outside of yourself or your own immediate interests. And I have focused on this kind of thing for many years. I like to root for underdogs and support people who are striving to build something. When I moved here, I decided that I would support downtown and the revitalization efforts here. Not because I’m a big supporter of urbanism or that sort of thing, (I’m not,) but because I met individual entrepreneurial people who were putting everything on the line in order to make and build something. Talking to them, I discovered that they put their entire financial and emotional life at risk to build something for their families, their future, and their community. Some succeed, some fail, but they all went to great risk to be a builder in our society. That’s the kind of thing I want to support. So here in this column, and in every other way, I’ve become an unpaid cheerleader and fan for all of the people who are working hard to make it and succeed in a very difficult economic system and time.

This type of “fandom” I support. And it works in other areas. I think good arts (“the arts”) are a hallmark of civilization and a bulwark against demoralization and isolation. I like to find and support up-and-coming artists and I do whatever I can to support people who are just trying to make something beautiful amidst the rising darkness. With my meager dollars I support LOCAL… Businesses yes, but also local theater, local music, local artwork, etc. On any given day or night around Brownwood you are likely to find us supporting our local friends and trying to make things better around here. When you see us in your business, or at a play at the Lyric, or watching music downtown, it is our way of saying “we want you to succeed.”

So, this is my definition of “fandom” in the sense of what I’m talking about here:

The mindful and intentional support of something or someone we believe is valuable.

Listen, I’ve written extensively in this column about my belief that the art of the written word (literature) is the most important pillar of any healthy and vivacious society, yet it is the only art that is wholly ignored and unsupported by civic groups, official or unofficial, anywhere. All of the other arts (the performing and visual arts,) receive support and encouragement from civic and private groups involved in urban revitalization and growth. We have whole committees, groups, people sitting around boardroom tables talking about music venues, plays, murals, art shows, etc. And I’m glad to see it.

I’ve also proven, historically, that in the longest of runs, literature does more to establish a successful urban cultural identity and drive cultural success, financially and otherwise, than any other art. And it’s not even close. More people go to Key West or Havana every year to see Hemingway’s house and cats than will ever drive to Clear Lake, Iowa, to see where Buddy Holly’s plane crashed. A few weirdos visit the spot in New York City where John Lennon was shot, but many times more people travel to Oxford, Mississippi to see William Faulkner’s house every year than will ever see John Lennon’s rooftop penthouse in NYC. Ask yourself if more tourists come to Brownwood because Bob Denver (Gilligan) lived here for a while, or to see the burial place of Robert E. Howard. It is no slam on the other arts, which I wholly support, to say that Literature is by far the most important and, in the long run, is many times more profitable in developing a successful and viable culture that people want to visit.

We have a rich literary history in Brownwood and the surrounding areas, and that history and present culture could be the seedbed of something really cool and longer lasting than a concert night or an art exhibition (though I support all of these things.) By the way, Brownwood has one of the greatest bookstores in the country over at the Intermission Bookshop downtown, and I’m a huge fan.

Anyway, being a “fan, in the sense that we support things that we believe are good and beneficial for the culture, is no bad thing. I have a good writer friend (he is both a good friend, and a good writer) who doesn’t like to call his supporters and readers (fans,) because he thinks it is belittling to them. As for me, I’m a fan and I’ll take all the fans I can get.

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Michael Bunker is a local columnist for BrownwoodNews.com whose columns appear periodically on the website.