AN ICEBERG IN THE SKY

In July 1975 a large block of ice fell through the roof of the Melkis family home in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. At the time of the incident the family was engrossed in the original TV movie about the Titanic. As the ice crashed through their ceiling, they were tensely waiting for the ship to strike the fateful iceberg in the film. Thankfully nobody was hurt!

RETURN OF THE GIRL FROM PETROVKA

Early in the 1970`s the British actor, the fascinating Mr Anthony Hopkins, ( who is my alltime favourite actor ) signed a contract to play one of the leading roles, in a film version of George Feifer`s The Girl From Petrovka. He searched the many bookshops in London`s Charing Cross Road for a copy of the original novel. His search was fruitless, so in frustration he went into the Leicester Square subway station to catch a train home. There lying on a seat in the station, he found a copy of the book, apparently forgotten by someone at the station.

Two years later Mr Hopkins was in Viena, working on the film production, and was visited by George Feifer. Mr Feifer told him that he no longer had a copy of his own book! – he had given his last one to a friend who had sadly lost the book somewhere in London. “Is this the one you mean?” Mr hopkins asked, handing him the book, “with the hand written notes scribbled in the margins?” It was indeed Feifer`s own copy. The Girl From Pretovka had come home at last!!

REUNION IN PARIS

When the novelist Anne Parrish first visited Paris in the 1920`s, she and her husband spent some leisurely time browsing the secondhand bookstalls that line the banks of the River Seine. On one stall she found an old copy of a book called Jack Frost And Other Stories, a book that she loved to read as a small child in Colorado Springs, she had not seen it since her nursery days. She became very excited to find such a well loved treasure again after so many years, and she showed the book to her husband. He opened it and on the flyleaf found an inscription: “Anne Parrish 209 N. Weber Street, Colorado Springs!! Needless to say, she snapped it up!

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LUCKY NUMBERS

I once read an interesting story in my early teens, and it has stuck in my memory ever since. It has always fascinated me how people think and feel about numbers!

LUCKY SEVEN

A gentleman by the name of Anthony Clancy was born in Ireland, on a Sunday, which is the seventh day of the week, on July 7th, the seventh month of the year, in 1907! He was the seventh child! and his father was also a seventh child, he also had seven brothers; that gives you seven sevens!! On his 27th birthday, he fancied a day at the races! So he went to put a bet on at his local horse racing track. He looked at his race-card, hoping to pick a winner in the seventh race! The horse he picked was called Seventh Heaven! His racing number was number seven, and the horse had a handicap of seven stone. The odds were seven to one! so he put seven shillings on the horse, and yes you`ve guessed it! it finished seventh!!!

DOUBLE THE FUN!

Identical twin boys who were born in Ohio USA, were adopted by different families, shortly after they were born. In the early seventies, after thirty nine years apart, they were reunited. They discovered that they had both been named James and they had both become law enforcement officers. They both studied mechanical drawing and carpentry. Each James married a woman called Linda and each had a son – one named James Alan and the other named James Allan. They had both been through a divorce and had married their second wives after three years, on the same date, one year apart, both their new wives were called Elizabeth!! They both holiday every year in St Petersburg, Florida and they both had, during their childhood, pet Huskies called Toy!!

I will continue to tell you more stories in future articles on the true and unusual realms of life.

Fascinating stuff!!

G xx

nanny.gina.r@gmail.com