Dorothy Parker Is Missing!

It finally happened and I can't believe it.

Our car got ransacked again last night (only two days after the last time), and our copy of The Best of Dorothy Parker is actually gone.

The break-ins are getting more annoying, and today when we all went out to our car the mess was way worse than usual with CDs and napkins and other random items everywhere, but no Dorothy Parker to be found. It was the only thing missing.

Maybe this is our version of a Little Free Library now? Will they return it when they are done? Bring us a different book? What new book should we replace it with? Maybe I should put in a copy of my own novel as a self-promotion? (Except that I like whatever's in the glove compartment to be something I can pull out and read if I'm stuck somewhere, and I already know how my book ends.)

So there's that. The end of an era. So long, Dorothy Parker. Your best was finally good enough.

Gotta Love A Happy Ending!

Amazing.  And wonderful.  I am so impressed and pleased the Lipinski Strad has been found!  (Apparently only blocks from my home, which is mind-boggling.)

It's a good day for everyone.  Well, probably not for the three suspects arrested in the case, but hey, that's entirely their own doing.

There's an enjoyable book called Stradivari's Genius by Toby Faber that I recommend to people when they come into my store and say they want to learn more about great instruments.  The Lipinski Strad is one of the violins featured in the book, and I remember Frank Almond telling me a few years ago that he found the history about it presented there to be lacking.  He did his own research to enhance our knowledge of the instrument and add interest to its story.  Little could he have know that his own chapter in the violin's life would turn out to have so much intrigue! 

Here's hoping that's enough interesting material for any revisions to books about the Lipinski Strad to last a while.

(Don't you just want to keep smiling?)

Stealing Beauty from Us All

I am shocked and saddened by the violent theft of Frank Almond's Stradivari.  The concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra was leaving a performance Monday night when he was attacked with a taser and his instrument was stolen.  The "Lipinski Stradivari" for insurance purposes is worth millions, but its true value is beyond measure.  It's a piece of history, and it's been stolen from all of us.