Do you know what a Hobbit is?

I was recently sitting on a station platform talking to an old lady. I had seen her around and had admired her stature and the way she was very sure of everything she was doing, formidable in a kind, yet eccentric way. She was very easy to talk to and I liked talking to her, she was clearly well read and well informed on life. I got onto describing my father in a specific situation once and told her that he looked like a Hobbit, blathering on I said 'Do you know what a Hobbit is?', she looked blank, 'Have you read Lord of the Rings?' I asked, again she paused but said 'Yes', so I continued my story of how my Dad looked like one. Then when I had finished she looked at me almost hard, and said 'Do you know my name?' In that split second the pennies dropped; I had seen the name on a list somewhere and registered it but did not know who it belonged to, and agast I said to her 'Oh my goodness, I've just worked it out' to which she said, bemused at my idiocy perhaps, 'Yes I do know what a Hobbit is, J.R.R. Tolkien was my father.'