Unforeseen Contingencies

It should be no surprise to readers that I am fiercely opposed to gun control.  Perhaps less well known is that I'm a great fan of the short short story.  Here's something that combines both themes.

During the aforementioned trip through the UP (see previous post) we stayed in Manistique, Michigan, a nice little town on the northern shore of Lake Michigan. After an early morning run on the boardwalk along the shore, we headed west along the coast. I happened to tune my radio to WCHT AM 600 in Escanaba, and caught a quite interesting and colorful local talk show, the Outspoken Sportsman, featuring Bill Moore.  The show covers hunting, fishing, political issues surrounding these activities, and I gather anything else that happens to strike the hosts' fancy.

Towards the end of the show he did something a little different.  He read a short piece of fiction, "Sundown at Coffin Rock."  I was getting towards the edge of the broadcast area and had to slow down to avoid losing the signal; if necessary I'd have stopped and gone back -- it's a gripping short short, and Moore's reading of it was perfect.  He mentioned that there's a second part but that it would have to wait for another show.

Now that I'm off the road I've managed to find the website of the author, Ray K. Paden.  He has both Coffin Rock stories online, along with two others.  Paden writes extremely well, and he's certainly on target with these.  Unfortunately, today they seem less like fiction and more like a reasonable projection of where some in the federal government hope to take us.  I highly recommend reading these.

The rest of Paden's site is quite entertaining as well and worth a visit.