NGC - Had the good fortune to cross paths with Grace Butcher

[ohiorider]

Re ride home yesterday.  I'd been in Mentor, Ohio, giving Tom a second pair of hands working on his recently-acquired Moto Guzzi.  Heading for home on the R100GS, I ended up taking I 90 to SR 528, then cut off on Burton Windsor Road into Burton, Ohio.  I parked in front of Coffee Corners, Sue and Jerry's place, just off the Burton Square.

While I was removing helmet and gloves, a very petite, pleasant woman crossed the street to look at the bike. " I used to ride BMWs," she said.  "I have something in my car I'd like to give you."

It was a small book of articles she (Grace Butcher) had written for "Rider" magazine from 1979 to 1985.  At that time, she had responded to an ad that said 'we're interested in women who ride and write."  She wrote ride and trip reports for the magazine as well as others.

We went into Coffee Corners, ordered a couple of coffees from Sue, and spent several pleasant minutes talking bikes and trips.  A coincidental meeting I'll always remember.

Bob

[oldbike54]

 Cool 

 Dusty

[kballowe]

How cool is that ?

 

[JC85]

Very cool! Random interesting encounters like that make life special.

[Dave Swanson]

Lucky guy!

[Gliderjohn]

One of those little things that makes life worth the hassle. 
GliderJohn

[grebmrof]

Bob, good encounter with someone unusual and special in our area.  I hope I can read what she gave to you one of these days.

Thanks for the hand with the CalVin...I think we can count our work as being successful, we started with a nicely running bike, fiddled long enough to make it an inert lump with parts scattered all around and the heavy odor of gasoline filling the garage.  Actually, we found what we think we need to do next and should have everything back in order in a few days.  Thanks again!
Tom

[ohiorider]

Soon as I'm through reading the book, it's yours to read.  Reads like prose poetry. I've enjoyed the first couple of short stories I've read.  Think I'll tuck it in the GS tankbag, and read bits of it when I stop at the coffee shop.  Just seems like that kind of book.

Enjoyed working on the CalVin.  Are you good to finish up on it, or would an extra pair of hands help?  Let me know.

Bob

[grebmrof]

Enjoyed working on the CalVin.  Are you good to finish up on it, or would an extra pair of hands help?  Let me know.
Bob

Bob, sending you a PM...

[Daleroso]

What a nice encounter. Unlikely to have happened on the interstate. She was enjoyable to read.

Sitting fireside in north Ga an old timer opened up about being in the 101st Airborne & being dropped behind German lines on D-Day. Hanging in a tree pre-dawn a boy saw him, left & came back with some villagers, got him down & he made it back to the Allies side.
50 yrs later at the 50th anniversary he & his son go into the same village. The village remembers him, takes him to a small store front where some of his military mementos are in the window. An older gentleman stepped up & presented him with the small US flag he'd had with him that morning long ago.
The man had been the boy that found him in the tree.
Wouldn't have heard that story on the interstate.

[yellowheader]

Back in the 80s I read the memoirs of Jeffrey Brock, a noted RCN destroyer captain in WWII and Korea. Just after reading that, I was out on exercise with my reserve unit one weekend here in the Edmonton area. My troop commander and I stopped at a farmhouse to ask to use their phone. An elderly couple came to the door, and when they saw our uniforms, they greeted us warmly and invited us in for tea and cookies. In the house, I could see from the plaques and artwork on the walls that this gentleman was a navy man, so I mentioned that I had just finished reading Brock's memoir. He said, "Oh, yes, I know Jeff very well. We had many adventures together during the war." Turns out he was a fellow officer who served with Brock and was mentioned by name several times in the book. Not exactly a celebrity, but it was an honour to meet such a distinguished hero in his own surroundings.  It's not an opportunity that will come around again either.