The Month of May is Fraught With Both Good And Bad
May 11th is the 20th anniversary of Douglas Adams’s death.
By a highly improbable coincidence, it is also the 6th annual deathday of my father, Robert (Bob) Keller:
I keep wanting to go “check” on my Dad.
Yvette Keller, Facebook May 11, 2015
Yep. Still there. Still a corpse.
Finding the humor, Sans Gallows.
In his final act of comedic irony (and the only one I don’t find funny), Douglas died of a massive heart attack while working out at the gym to avoid dying of a massive heart attack. Bob died of cryptogenic cirrhosis, which sounds far more Science Fiction-y, and roughly translates to, “We don’t know the exact cause, but what we can tell you is that your liver is broken.”
When I posted the words above from the bedside of my deceased dad, I had recently journeyed home from Austria. Home from my 42nd birthday trip, a 42-day tour to 42 places in Adams’s works.
In fact, I came home a few days earlier than intended after finding out my father had taken a turn for the worse. Dad had been adamant that I take the trip, though I offered to give it up and stay home to support him. He believed that travel was important and he imparted that value to me, even though we rarely had the opportunity to travel together.
I think his encouragement is one reason I am so committed to organizing the Forty-Two Places Tour, with dates tentatively set for May 13-25 or August 24-September 7, in 2022.
While many of the places we want to go to are still closed, so we cannot yet confirm the details, I am hopeful that a whole bunch of us fans will be able to visit incredible places like these 12 months from now:
- The Old Midland Grand Hotel
- Kate’s Corner of The Park
- St. Paul’s Cathedral
- Lord’s Cricket Ground
- Filming Locations of H2G2 2005 Movie
- St. John’s College Cambridge
- Jodrell Bank Observatory
- Glastonbury Tor
- Goonhilly and The Lizard
- Stonehenge
- Dirk & Richard’s Islington Walks
- And Douglas’s Gravesite
We can’t go yet, but barring any Vogon intervention, we plan to go next year, so be sure you are signed up to hear about the final details and travel with us!
Enough Marvin approved content. Let’s get to the good bits about May.
May 17th is the 18 year anniversary of marrying my best friend and fellow frood, Mark Bessey. Six years ago, he joined me for the first week of my Adamsian Pilgrimage, and here we are at Stonehenge. Stonehenge is mentioned in So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish, in a description of Fenchurch’s flat:
It was simply decorated, furnished with things made out of cushions and also a stereo set with speakers which would have impressed the guys who put up Stonehenge.
So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish
On Sunday, the 30th of May, The Works of Douglas Book Club will be discussing this month’s book, So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish. Click Here to sign up and join us for lively discussions about the book, the history, and odd details about Douglas Adams.
The 25th of May is also deeply meaningful to us Adamsian Fans, as it has become Towel Day, the day when we honor Adams and his works. Here’s a couple of fun things you can do to celebrate your love for Adams with your fellow fans.
Celebrate the 42nd Anniversary and Towel Day with a listen to the How We Made Podcast. It features interviews with Douglas’s best mate, John Lloyd, the illustrator, Chris Riddell, and fans from all around the world (including me!).
iTunes: https://apple.co/3b1r5ye
Waterstones.com: http://bit.ly/HitchhikerPod
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3uio3gC
Stand Up For Towel Day is on again this year!
Tickets are just $6.00, though as a fundraiser for Save The Rhino (one of Douglas’s favorite charities) whatever you can give will go toward
the conservation of endangered herbivores.
What do you think?