Where to start?
This morning, I was talking to a friend — we’ll call him “Marlowe” — just checking in, touching base. During the conversation, there was something in his voice that made me ask, “Hey, You want to tell me what’s going on?” We’ve been at this thing called life long enough that it’s mutually understood. That question means, Go ahead, talk and whatever it is I’ll listen.
Marlowe’s in St. Charles, a town in the Fox Valley in Illinois. He told me about two sisters, Brittany and Tiffany Coffland, who were killed by their father, Randall. This was after Randall had wounded their mother and before Randall turned the gun on himself.
“I was reading about the memorial service in the Daily Herald,” Marlowe said, “and after turning a few pages I saw something that made me stop and just say out loud ‘Are you fucking serious?’ Said it a little too loud, I guess, startled the missus and shook up the dogs.”
“Okay, so what was it?”
I could hear Marlowe take in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Right there, in the same goddamn paper, hang on, I’ll read it to you ...”
St. Charles will once again experience cat scratch fever this summer, as rocker and former Palatine resident Ted Nugent returns to the Arcada Theatre, 105 E. Main St., for back-to-back nights on Sunday, July 30, and Monday, July 31. Tickets go on sale at noon Saturday for both shows, which will each start at 7:30 p.m. Nugent is no stranger to the Arcada, having appeared last year in two sold-out shows.
Marlowe’s voice shook a bit as he read it. When he finished, the sound of him slamming the paper on top of his recycling bin came through the phone, followed by the click of a cigarette lighter. I knew he was trying to quit; we’re getting up there. Neither one of us said anything for a bit.
Finally, as I tried to wrap my brain around this, I asked, “So … I assume you’re gonna call the theater and..?”
“Already did! Goddamn it, I used to love going to that place. It was one of the things I was looking forward to when I retired and we moved back here. But jeezus christ! How the fuck can Ron Onesti book that fucking maniac? And Ron puts out a release like he’s so goddamn proud of it! That he booked Ted fucking Nugent”
I knew Marlowe was pacing at this point, like he used to do during debate prep way back when. I knew Mrs. Marlowe would be checking on how he was doing.
“And they run it the same day, the same goddamn day, that they’re reporting on two kids — two more kids! — who couldn’t have possibly done anything to deserve what happened to them!”
Silence. He continued, his voice quieter, a little raspy.
“There’s probably some editor who wants credit for not placing that Nugent release right below the fold on the same page as the memorial article. Hey, man.”
“What?”
“How do you handle the days, like this one, when it feels like nobody fucking cares how many kids die?”
“Well,” I replied, “I try to remind myself that there are people who care. People like you. And that there are others, too. Even when it feels like you’re the only one, you’re not. Others care, too.”
And if any of you are also in the Fox Valley, and feel compelled to give the Arcada and Mr. Onesti a call, I’m sure my friend would appreciate it.
- For Brittany, Tiffany, and too many others —
*Update : My apologies, had something come up before I could add contact information; my bad.
Arcada Theatre
105 E. Main Street
St. Charles, IL 60174
(630) 962 7000
info@oshows.com