I wrote Because of Winn-Dixie during what was at the time referred to as the “worst winter on record” in Minnesota, which is a considerable statement for Minnesota, which is roughly the equivalent of Siberia in climate. And because I’d grown up in Florida, it was a double shock to me. I mean we had a week where the high didn’t go above 20 below, and so you walk outside, and you open up your car door, and pieces of it fall off because it’s so cold.
So, at that point, I was thinking, “Hmm. I wonder what things are like in Florida.” And so I was homesick, and it was the first long period in my life that I’d been without a dog or access to a dog. I desperately wanted a dog, so I made a dog up, and I went back to Florida — all of that happening without any conscious decision on my part. I can look back and see what was at work now, but then I just knew that I was longing for home and that I wanted to write a book…
When I got to the set, they were filming the scene with Dave Matthews playing a song for Opal in the pet store. And I’m not a weeper, but I sat there and just cried like a baby, which delighted Wayne Wang, the director. He was so pleased.
It’s an astonishing thing, because, you know, you’re in your little room, in your little apartment at 4:30 in the morning making things up, and then all of a sudden five years later, there it is in everybody’s mind, so it was very unsettling and very moving.
