A Literary Coincidence
An interesting literary coincidence; if you believe in coincidence. Personally I have always believed that there is no such thing as coincidence, but I could be mistaken. I frequently am.
On Wednesday night I outlined and began writing a short story, ‘Holly, The Path Not Taken.’ I’m writing it for an upcoming Christmas anthology by Noble Romance.
Much of the story is set in the late sixties. In order to help strike that tone I included three distinct references to a popular folk song from that era. Here’s the first.
I turn on my laptop, jack it into the car stereo and start streaming Pandora. The first song up is ‘The Cruel War’ by Peter, Paul and Mary. I feel the tears welling up in my eyes, rolling down my cheeks. Well, it is a sad song; it was a cruel war.
On Thursday afternoon I turned on the news and learned that Mary Travers, the woman who sang the song, died at age 72. As I said, it’s an interesting literary coincidence; if you believe in coincidence. I don’t. Do you?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
Mary Allin Travers
May her soul rest in peace
I hadn’t heard she passed away, but what a great legacy she’s left all the future generations who have no idea who Peter, Paul & Mary are! Okay, so now you and I have stood right up and shown our age…..
Coincidence? Nope, like you I don’t believe in coincidence, but I do believe in karma, cosmic insight and fate. But then, I see dead people, so….
Yeah Rie,
It is a downside to writing fiction. If you’re going to be true the plot and characters, you wind up showing more of yourself than most of us are comfortable doing.
Glenn