Monday, February 25, 2013

They Were There

"On my rounds as a writer, I get to hear a lot of stories. They start, say, over the cafeteria table: "There goes a guy you'll meet this afternoon. Funny how he came to be with us…" Or, watching the chattering crowd punch out at closing-time, "See that gal in the yellow sweater? One of the best. Well, last spring..." So the stories roll. Over the years one kind of story kept cropping up that fascinated me: how often the fortunate "break" for some man or woman had come just because that individual happed to be there - present, on deck and ready - when Old Man Opportunity knocked at the door. Almost, without realizing it, I started to collect such stories, the way some people save four-leaf clovers. Then friends found out and contributed more stories. Pretty soon I had a regular collection."

Good Reading Rack Service, 1957


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