Rubilacxe

Another strong chapter filling in blanks as needed but continuing the education of our two protagonists. Well done, as always!

Like Graeme, I recognized Plantagenet and York. Similarly, I thought for sure this was a ghost story. In a way, I guess it is one, but I loved the O'Henry ending and its wry, wistful tone. Kudos, David.

David Frost contues writing infrequent Op-Ed pieces for the New York Times. His most recent piece was about his interview with Richard Burton while he was starring in the musical Camelot.

I was 34 at the time this happened and for me, I was split by several emotions. One was relief that the Watergate turmoil would now ease down in time. For awhile, I did not think it could ever stop. I was also very, incredibly saddened that it all came to this. What a "First" for our Nation and a President. I was also extremely happy that Pres. Nixon would be gone. Having lived through the JFK, RFK, MLK assassinations, LBJs acceptance of his fate and his time in the White House, I remember watching the inauguration for RMN with trepidation as I do not think I ever trusted him. I did this without good investigation but I kept remembering those Debates between JFK and him lo those many years before and kept saying to myself, "Doesn't he look shifty". Of course, then I was in high school and 'what did I know'. I just know that when this event happened and he and Pat left from the grounds of the WH in their helicopter, Marine One, that our country had really, fundamentally changed somehow. That our innocence after our exhuberance at winning WWII had led to such dirty politics on both sides and that this had continued throughout the Vietnam Debacle to a point where even a President's leaving under such circumstances would not stop the use of deceit and the art of telling some of the truth or even none of the truth but made it so it sound like the truth. I remember thinking as Marine One took off about the hot summer day in July 1969, glued to the TV set as Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon. I felt so much pride for our country, the men and women who toiled to make this happen and then how some 5 years later this event where the penduluum would swing harshly the other way. In the end, I am just glad that we all were able to move on. I do not know how successfully we have moved on but at least we moved somewhere else.

For a nice description of story arc, see Story Arc Structure David, clear thoughts as usual. Thanks.

What They Always Tell Us by Martin Wilson is a great read about two brothers during their last years of high school, learning about themselves, each other, as well as their "friends". I found it refreshing, insightful and well written. Also, Good Blood by Aaron Elkins is a detective story set in and around Rome. It is full of intrigue, an "interesting" (at best) family and an enterprising forensic anthropologist known elsewhere as the "Skeleton Detective". Very good read!

CJ, this link does not work any longer. Can you supply another one?

Susan Boyle was certainly led part of the way towards believing she could win by all the adulation: the Judges as well as the British and American press. However, I would hope that now that she has lost that the press could drop their micro-analyzing of her current status and behavior. As humans we strive to reach our dreams. Sometimes we actually achieve them, more often not. How well would any of us fare if all our foils and foibles let alone our stumbles were under the press microscope.

Neal of Dreams of Humanity becomes Neil in Dreams of A Father. Is this a typo or is there some other reason for the change?

I have been a fan of CSU stories for a long time and read all the updates quickly. I can say that your capsules are spot on but they don't quite match the inventive interconnectedness of all these tales. The authors have collaborated in such a way to try and keep the time lines and characters in synch. Obviously, this is no mean marvel, but they do it well.