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Thursday, February 8, 2018

The Writer's Life 2/8 - Beloved Sons

In 2003 a Fairfield University football player, Mark Fisher, 19, was murdered while partying in NYC. John Giuca, now 34, was convicted of the crime and has served ten years on a sentence of 25 to life. He has been granted a re-trial on a technicality, his lawyer arguing that the jury that convicted him was not informed that a key witness had received a promise from the D.A.. Giuca's mom worked tirelessly to free him, at one time going so far as to go "undercover" to try to catch jurors, post-trial, in lies. She even handed out fliers on the street. She gave me one about five years ago while I was selling books in Park Slope, not far from where the body was discovered. She bought Close to the Edge for her son, whom she said was in jail, and asked me to sign a web petition for the reopening of his case. I immediately surmised who she was, although she looked far different from the dolled-up woman whose picture appeared in newspapers and online. Was her purchase a sort of bribe? I suppose so. I felt sorry for her, as she seemed so desperate. If I recall correctly, I signed the petition, as it did not involve his release. I had no reason to disbelieve the court's findings. I simply saw no harm in the case again going to trial. I don't know if she believed in his innocence or if she were merely working to free her beloved son despite his guilt. She has her wish, although her son will remain behind bars. Imagine how Fisher's parents must feel. They thought they knew the circumstances of their beloved son's death. Now they may never have closure.


Having heard that the DJI has suffered another 1000 point drop. I looked at a list I keep of two of my retirement accounts. The third is an annuity. For the past eleven of twelve months, my Schwab account hit an all-time high. It was eight of twelve at Fidelity. Let's hope this is simply a correction and not something worse. Pop icon Usher created a firestorm with a satiric tweet he attributed to President Trump in 2015: "If the Dow Joans ever falls more than 1000 ‘points’ in a Single Day the sitting president should be 'loaded' into a very big cannon and Shot into the sun at TREMENDOUS SPEED! No excuses!" The astute among us realized the message contained more than 140 characters, which wasn’t possible in 2015. There was no point in deleting it, as it went viral quickly. It's everywhere. It's not a good idea for a President to take credit for a rise in the stock market, as it sets himself up for ridicule if it tanks.

Despite the beautiful day, business was extremely slow at the floating book shop. My thanks to the elderly couple who bought a thriller in Russian.
Vic's Sixth novel: http://tinyurl.com/zpuhucj 
Vic's Short Works: http://tinyurl.com/jy55pzc

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