Busy few days. Lots
going on here in the Harbour, and it seems like there’s more to come.
Had a chance to spend more time with Evolene Sunday and
yesterday. Seems like she’ll do just
fine here, although I haven’t told her that.
She’s definitely an independent spirit and will put up a fight if she
disagrees with me or anyone else. Will
probably make her as many enemies as friends around here, but maybe that’s not
a bad thing.
Gave her a chance to explain her late arrival, and it’s
quite a story. Still going to have her
write about it as a special piece for the paper, but have decided there’s so
much there that we’ll make it a series; maybe four or five weeks. Amazing stuff, and don’t know whether to
think her an idiot or a hero—heroine. First
off, she apparently turned down a job offer in the city that would have paid
her three times what she’s going to make here.
Then, she made her second genius choice of the week by deciding to
forego an easy ferry ride, and instead, ride her bicycle over a range of
mountains using a map she’d printed off Google Earth. Anyway, I’ve given her a week to prepare an
overall outline and two weeks to submit 30 column inches. Should make fascinating reading.
Would have asked her to start the series this week—would have
been a tough slog, but she would have pulled it off—but since 2001 there’s only
been one story during the second week of September. Midden Harbour is nowhere near New York or DC
or Pennsylvania, but doesn’t much matter, the events of September 11 cast a
long shadow.
It’s amazing what you can find in a small town. Often reminds me of that Seven Degrees of
Kevin Bacon fad that was going around a few years ago where you could link
Kevin Bacon to every star in film in seven steps. Turns out the idea is a solid one based on
science and research. And this applies
to The Harbour how?? Like I was saying,
it’s amazing how many world events you can find a link to, some pretty
convoluted, in a little community.
John Davies was one of those stories. John was a fixture here long before I
arrived; ran a small engine repair business.
Got to know John really well but not as well as I thought. Wasn’t until his son brought in the text for his
obituary that I found out that John was a Titanic survivor. Never told me or his neighbours or his
buddies, just his family. And he swore
them to keep the secret.
That wasn’t so much Seven Degrees as One Degree, but you get
the idea. With regards to 9/11, a couple
of people in town have connections through relatives or high school or a friend’s
brother’s sister-in-laws hairdresser.
Doesn’t matter how distant the connection, it’s still powerful.
So this week’s Shoreline will be about 9/11. It will always be a sad, emotional story,
made even sadder by its legacy.
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