| 234567 | > |
Harry Chapin’s third studio album, “Short Stories,” includes ten songs. Two of them, presented consecutively on the album, are the stories of a skilled craftsman and aspiring singer who has his dreams unceremoniously crushed, and a young woman fleeing her circumstances with no certainty of what, exactly, she is fleeing to: “Mr. Tanner” and “Mail Order Annie.” Both songs became favorites among Harry’s fans, and his brother Steve continues to perform both even to this day.
Some time ago, I got the idea to try to bring the two stories together for the good readers of SOL. It seemed simple enough: He falls in love with her. She falls in love with him. Throw in a few Easter eggs for everyone in the Cheap Seats... and poof! The story will be written by midnight. (My apologies to the late Jerry Orbach.) And then, my writer’s block cleared, I can pick up with “The Inches Between Us” again! No problem!
Well... two problems.
First, I started posting “The Inches Between Us” more than six years ago – and, in fact, its basic origins are in a story I started writing in 2003. Not wanting to have another story get slapped with the dreaded “Incomplete and Inactive” label, I resolved that I would have this new story completed before I started posting it.
Second... it’s the strangest thing. These characters have lived in my head for most of my life. But when I brought them off my playlist and onto paper, they turned into three-dimensional people and developed minds of their own, doing things Harry never wrote about and that I never anticipated.
One of the driving forces behind the 1985 charity single "We Are the World" was the late Ken Kragen, who had been Harry Chapin's manager. Ken was interviewed for Harry Chapin's "VH1 Behind the Music" episode, and he said that at one point during the night it was recorded, "I felt Harry Chapin crawl up my nose and start directing." I now fully understand what he meant; as I've been writing this, I have periodically felt Harry's ghost take over my keyboard to introduce new storylines for his creations, and new characters for them to interact with.
Also, a third problem: I really need an editor. As one example, one of Annie’s early mentors is her teacher, Miss Howard, who then gets married and becomes Mrs. Fields. (Howard Fields was Harry’s drummer.) I have found at least half a dozen places where I get the names mixed up, and I’m sure there are others hiding in this story, which is well over 18,000 words at this point.
I have reached out to my friend jetson63; hopefully he is still offering his services. I am accepting requests from anyone else who would like to join this merry little bandwagon as well. If you happen to be one of Harry’s fans, that’s a bonus. (If you’re not, who knows, maybe you will be by the end.)
Life was not so much easier twenty years ago.
Twenty years ago today, I went to work but left my cell phone on my kitchen counter. I went to work, went to class afterward, came home... and there were 8 messages on my machine and about 15 missed calls on my phone. And just from the sheer number, I immediately knew exactly what all of them were about to tell me: that it was the day my grandmother had been awaiting for 40 years. She was with her husband again.
I never told my family what inspired the opening of the eulogy I gave for her, but it was Don Lockwood's "Rewind" - specifically, Ed's eulogy for Beth. My opening was, "It is often said at a time like this that she is in a better place. And she is. But more than that, we are in a better place. We - her daughter, her grandchildren, all of us who knew her - we are in a better place because she was part of our lives."
This morning I went back and re-read that part of his story, to remember a bit, and I saw his blog post promising to finish "Rewind." Which he wrote in 2019. And it pricked my conscience a bit.
I do promise to finish "The Inches Between Us" and even the story I teased in my previous blog post, "Mail Order Annie." But first I want to remember a bit. And, in case word of this should ever reach him, to thank Don Lockwood for a moment of inspiration when I needed it most.
As a postscript to this post, several months later, we were sharing stories and recalled the story of how she met my grandfather. And we realized that the day of her passing was 39 years to the day after their first date.
My mother tells of being with her when she passed, and how, a few minutes before, my grandmother sat bolt upright in her hospital bed, eyes wide, and silently pointed at something. I believe that he came for her, and I can't think of a better ending for her.
John and Lisa will be coming back shortly. Actually, they will be going to a Little People of America function, much like I will be attending one in a few weeks. It will be my first time attending one in several years, so I am deliberately deferring work on that chapter until after my return.
In the meantime, those among my followers who enjoy hanging out in the cheap seats, strap in, there's some fun in store for you.
Among the songs that have had the longest life among Harry Chapin's fan base, three of them come off his 1973 "Short Stories" album: "W.O.L.D.," the tale of a radio DJ whose best years, both personally and professionally, are behind him... "Mr. Tanner," the result of Harry reading an absolutely scathing review of a singer in the New York Times and wondering about the man whose life aspirations were utterly shredded in four sentences... and "Mail Order Annie," the tale of a struggling gentleman farmer and the woman who responds to a personal ad he placed in the newspaper.
Recently, the idea crawled into my brain to wonder about the path those characters took to arrive at that point in their lives. I thought it would just be a matter of dashing off a couple of pages and going on with life.
Three weeks and seven chapters later, I haven't even gotten Annie on the train yet. I am, however, having all kinds of fun hiding Easter eggs. Among my favorites so far: Annie was born on "March twenty-first, the first day of Spring" and has four older brothers named Tom, Steve, John, and Wallace.
Also appearing, so that she may receive the thorough and merciless upbraiding she deserves, is a teacher who never imagined that her snarky comment about an 11-year-old student would become internationally famous for all the wrong reasons.
My hope is to finish the story before posting it, so that no one finds themselves waiting four and a half years to hear it all. My goal is to start posting it before the holidays.
In the meantime, if you've never heard the song... or if it's been a while... here you go.
https://youtu.be/IbUu7Q5lUeA?feature=shared
In the interest of kicking myself in the ass to get back to posting this story, I have bypassed jetson63 and gone directly to posting this chapter. Jetson, my friend, I promise to bring you back in the loop for the next chapter, but I didn't want to come from out of the ether to interrupt your holiday.
When I posted Chapter 29, I prefaced it with a trigger warning because it featured (spoiler alert) Lisa having a mental-health episode. I have prefaced Chapter 30 with a similar trigger warning as it discusses the aftermath of Chapter 29. In some respects, it was harder to write than Chapter 29 because it mirrors the aftermath of a similar episode in my own mental-health journey, except mine didn't end well.
I don't want it to be equally challenging for you to read it, so I am asking you to please take care of yourself and not read it if you are not in a safe place.
My fellow denizens of the Cheap Seats will appreciate one thing I did with my time away. The Harry Chapin Band (Steve, Big John Wallace, and Howie Fields) did a brief tour in late October and early November. I was able to go see them, and got to fulfill a nearly-lifelong dream: meeting Big John. And seeing him perform "Last Stand." He also alternated singing verses of "Cat's In the Cradle" with Steve. The man may be 80, but his vocal chops are still fully intact.
On the less-pleasant side of the ledger, I lost a family member rather unexpectedly. I expect that to be an ongoing headache for the next few months, but I'm determined to go into the new year kicking my depression's ass a little more than it kicks mine for a change, so I will try not to let another four-month hiatus pass before posting the next chapter.
Enjoy, keep the comments coming, and I will talk to you all again soon.
DFLR
Some of you may recall me recently blogging about an issue with my wrist. I had surgery on it earlier this week but will resume the story as soon as I am able to use both hands to type again. I had also started putting pen to paper regarding another story idea and may start posting that as well.
Thank you for your patience. -- DFLR
| 234567 | > |