A mystery: In 200 years, the cityscape of Paris has remained virtually unchanged, despite revolution, wars and all attempts at modernisation.
Mid-19th-century lithograph of bird's eye view from St. Gervais.
Mystery intrigues me and I'm not alone - books, plays, television programs and movies painstakingly explore mystery after mystery.
As a child I spent hours reading Nancy Drew mysteries and the series about her male counterparts, the Hardy Boys. But my favourite was a book called Minute Mysteries. It presented numerous mini-mysteries for young readers to solve. When imagination and code-deciphering abilities failed, answers could be found at the back of the book.
Clue was my favourite board game. And I loved exploring new places and learning new things. The sound of foreign languages - the more indecipherable the better - was music to my ears. I loved Dashiell Hammett's gritty San Francisco detective novels, Edna Buchanan's mysteries in Miami and black-and-white film noir.
I always thought it would be fun being a detective. Instead, I decided to be a reporter, because I could write and the job combined many of my interests: meeting fascinating and sometimes dangerous movers and shakers; traveling to foreign climes and satisfying my boundless curiosity by fitting intricate pieces of a puzzle together to solve a mystery - the who, what, where, when and why. Getting to ask unlimited questions, seeing behind the scenes of other people's lives, learning to distinguish between truth and deliberate spin - what a great job - and I got paid for it!
I love the mystery of meeting someone and slowly getting to know and understand them. I love the romance and mystery of not knowing what will happen next; of believing that an unexpected treat is just around the corner. I love that life is rich with possibility and promise. If a seer or fortune-teller offered to predict my destiny, I wouldn't want to know. The magic's in the mystery - every single day.
But I'd personally like to unveil two unsolved mysteries from my past. I'd like to know who killed my former love. I'd also like to know what happened to Mary Jimmie "BoBo" Shinn, an artist and friend who disappeared, apparently abducted and murdered. Maybe if today's crime-scene technologies and specialised forensics investigators were available then, those killers would be behind bars.
A universal mystery that interests me is what makes some people survivors and others victims? Why do some people go through catastrophic illnesses or wrenching, terrible circumstances and survive - and even thrive - while others cling to the role of helpless victim? Why do some people moan and groan, relentlessly complaining "oh, woe is me," while others draw on unknown reserves of inner strength to meet any challenge?
Why do some people waste time shrieking and railing against their fate, while others muster enough grace to grapple with unforeseen events? Why do some people carry on a "poor pitiful Pearl" act years after some unfortunate incident - while others move forward, adapting to changing circumstances and carving out a future, albeit one proving vastly different than anticipated?
Why are some people mired in a quicksand of negative energy, while others rise to the occasion, no matter how challenging? Why do some people get back up to fight again, while others stay down for the count?
The strongest, bravest people I've ever met are survivors - those who have come through tough times and learned from their experiences. The weakest people I've come across are those who breeze through life seemingly with nary a worry or those who have never been able to see past a bad experience to envision a more positive future.
Is it a question of genetics or a matter of environmental conditioning? I'd like this complex mystery solved.
Of course a few practical mysteries continue to vex me on a fairly regular basis - such as why - even though I eat less than anyone I know and walk for miles- I easily gain weight? Why when I'm in a rush, I'm always in the line moving at a snail's pace?
Why do the rich get richer and the poor and innocents suffer? And why do the "best laid schemes of mice and men"* so often go awry?
*Robert Burns, "To a Mouse," 1785
I have some interesting infomation about Bobo Shinn.
Contact me at Mahalofilm@hotmail.com
Posted by: mahalofilm@hotmail.com | 09 July 2008 at 07:14
I was a very good friend of Bo Bo's in grade school and junior high and I moved away from magnolia, ar. right before high school. The weird thing was, on the very day she disappeared, I was visiting magnolia, ar., and another mutual friend and I were driving around trying to find her to visit with her and never could find her. then we found out later that she had been murdered possibly and was never found. I just wish we had hooked up with her first that day, so maybe this terrible thing would have never happened to her. How did you know her?
Posted by: lah | 14 June 2008 at 08:28
sorry, please respond to scanlonandassociates@netbusiness.com in case i dont get back to this page
Posted by: a.s. | 12 January 2008 at 07:54
it has come to light in recent past that someone i know could have been linked to bobo schinns disappearance. i would like to be contacted by any of you that have any information on her case, witnesses, information, articles, etc. (as i was only 3 when she disappeared)
Posted by: a.s. | 12 January 2008 at 07:52
I, too, often wonder about BoBo Shinn. We were freshmen together in college. I knew her but not all that well. I always await the news that she has been found. What a tragedy.
Posted by: Carol | 29 July 2007 at 04:26
HELLO,
I WAS LOOKING UP INFORMATION ON BOBO SHINN AND NOTICED YOU HAVE WRITTEN ABOUT HER ON YOUR SITE. I WAS WONDERING WHAT YOUR CONNECTION WAS WITH HER AND ALSO, WHAT YOU KNOW THAT I MAY NOT. I AM ALSO A REPORTER AND HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED A STORY ABOUT HER AND A POSSIBLE LEAD ON HER CASE. IF YOU CAN ASSIST, PLEASE LET ME KNOW OR EVEN IF YOU HAVE SOME INSIGHT INTO THOSE EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED SOME 29 YEARS AGO. THANKS, BEKAH
Posted by: BEKAH | 11 April 2007 at 19:46
I went to school with Mary Jimmie. Who are you?
Charlie
Posted by: Charlie | 24 July 2006 at 06:18
What an interesting post! Mysteries....I love them as well....the mystery of life is the one that intrigues me more and I have said to myself many times: Why me? Why I have been a survivor of a natural disaster and not a lot of others around? or Why life is so good to me and not to some others? why me?
Posted by: Catalina | 13 June 2006 at 22:15
I often wonder, too, about why some people move past bad things more easily and others get stuck. I tend to get stuck and am trying to learn to shake things off. I know, without a doubt, it makes life easier to get past the icky stuff quickly.
Posted by: deirdre | 13 June 2006 at 00:18
Nancy Drew and Clue! I'm very much enjoying rediscovering these pleasures as my daughter explores them for the first time. There's so much to think about here ...
Posted by: HoBess | 12 June 2006 at 21:53
A beautifully written and compelling account about those things that bug us!!
Posted by: Verity | 12 June 2006 at 21:13
My favorite mystery books as a kid were the Encyclopedia Brown books. I don't know why I didn't introduce them to my kids. As I got older I read a few Agatha Christie novels, but I lost my taste for mysteries after that. I don't like sitting on the edge of my seat, waiting to find out "whodunit".
Posted by: Dani | 12 June 2006 at 06:15
Your post reminded me of how much I loved Clue growing up...except I used it as a springboard for pretend play and stories. :) I should buy a new board.
Your evocative writing makes me *almost* want to give mysteries another chance!
Posted by: Mardougrrl | 12 June 2006 at 05:05
T - Great questions. Love the one about the survivor/victim role. It makes for great discussion and contemplation.
My daughter resisted reading Nancy Drew for years but just finished her first one. She's hooked! We just got 4 more from the library and she's going through them like crazy!
Posted by: KimG | 12 June 2006 at 04:38
A very interesting post.
I'm with you on the weight one -- definitely a mystery.
I feel for your friends and lovers mystery too. Why them?
Posted by: Aly | 12 June 2006 at 02:42
Your love sounds like a fascinating and unique man. I hope that mystery will be solved for you.
Posted by: patry | 12 June 2006 at 02:32
Life is a mystery to me, and I love to be a detective.
Posted by: Britt-Arnhild | 11 June 2006 at 23:02
Why do some people handle tragedy so well and other people choose to play the victim? I think it boils down to one's ability to ACCEPT WHAT IS rather than fighting the reality of what is. What is, is, and wanting it to be otherwise will never work. Maybe the "survivors" are just better at accepting so they can then focus on going forward from where they are, and doing what they can to make things better in the aftermath.
Good post... as was the one about your past love.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | 11 June 2006 at 21:01
I loved Nancy Drew and Clue, too! So sorry about your former love and your friend.
Posted by: duhhhblond | 11 June 2006 at 20:26
I loved Nancy Drew and I also read the Hardy Boys. To this day there is nothing I would rather read than a good mystery. I often read those by English authors but love Sue Grafton and her alphabet series. I guess the need to know "why" has led to religion. That is my theory anyway.
Posted by: Linda | 11 June 2006 at 20:00
Your post caused me to remember how as a young reader I devoured every mystery novel I could get my hands on. I love how your writing moved from that into deeper mysteries.
Posted by: Kara | 11 June 2006 at 19:52
Oh, Nancy Drew and Clue--such vivid memories of these I cannot even say! Now, my daughter has started us back on Clue...it remains a fun and mysterious pastime. And what you wrote about acceptance and fate--very beautifully done.
Posted by: C. Delia | 11 June 2006 at 19:29
The desire to bring the indiscernible into focus - I guess that's universal. But the compulsion to seek out mystery for the very delight the impenetrable holds - that's a drive that not everyone has. And you definitely have it. Great, great journey through some of those impenetrables!
Posted by: Rebekah | 11 June 2006 at 18:58
Hey, I loved Nancy Drew! And choose your own adventure book (noit really mystery, but kind of sometimes)
And CLUE! I forgot about taht game. it was so fun.
Have you ever been to a murder mystery party? That is my dream, I would love to go to one of those, and dress up as the rich socialite bitch with the loooooooong ciggarette and the black netted veil. Sooo Fun!
Posted by: krista | 11 June 2006 at 15:31
I always wonder that one too, what makes a survivor and a victim? Fascinating even more so when there are those persons in one family. I loved reading your mysteries this morning.
Posted by: kristen | 11 June 2006 at 14:04
Tara, you write the questions well, and have many good leads to follow in the comments left here...I think all answers lie within us, and that life is meant to be a mysterey at the same time.
Posted by: Tongue in Cheek | 11 June 2006 at 10:36
Hmm. Being a person who A) loved Nancy Drew and B) wax and wane between thriver and victim...I enjoyed this post. I think your answer is that sometimes its easier and safer to be a victim then to move beyond and risk trusting self. Sometimes, life really is that hard.
Personally, I like it when I act as thriver or victim...I have better stories to tell.
Posted by: GoGo | 11 June 2006 at 08:58
Great questions and ponderings Tara! I'm also fascinated by the nature/nurture question and what makes people who they are, some able to rise above circumstances, others custom-made victims. And the idea of becoming a reporter to seek after answers -- I don't have that in me, I'm more of a sit-back-and-wonder type, and I have great admiration for those who have the resources and skills to actually solve mysteries and answer questions, like detectives and reporters. Like so many things in my life that I'm afraid or lazy to actually do, I imagine my characters in my stories to do them instead of me! My protagonist in my novel is a seeker after mysteries. I just dream them up!
Posted by: Laini | 11 June 2006 at 06:35
Gripping questions Tara. I hope you get answers about your friends someday. I see this as a intermittent but recurring theme in your writing and wish you peace with these mysteries.
Posted by: Annie | 11 June 2006 at 06:34
Sweet mystery of life....
An excellent post, Tara.
I read the Nancy Drew books too when I was a kid. In journalism, I had to ferret things out. And once I actually took a short course in detecting.
Naturally, I read mystery novels. I read every night, and my nighttime reading is always a mystery novel.
Posted by: Colette | 11 June 2006 at 04:44
love this post. I too love mysteries and a lot of the questions about life you have I have them too. Hope you have a wonderous week.
Posted by: yolanda | 11 June 2006 at 03:38
What a lot of great mysteries! and hello again. This is one of my favourite blogs
Posted by: Catherine | 11 June 2006 at 02:33
This is the BEST thing that I came across your blog through a link from somewhere arty! I have always wanted to travel to France! Your blog is like candy! chocolate'!(fr)hee hee! Thank you thank you !!! Pam Aries
Posted by: Pam | 11 June 2006 at 02:04
I think a reporter is very much like a detective but even better. Travel and less regulations. Nancy Drew was my intro to reading, but I leaned toward the romance :) I think your personality depends on how you deal with the tuff stuff. That is a God mystery :)
Love how you write and this piece.
Posted by: Tammy | 11 June 2006 at 01:55
Nature vs. Nuture is a plaguing question that I often wonder about, especially as an educator. I have known brothers and sisters who defy both sides of the coin and it almost seems as though it is all left to chance. I do not, cannot, believe that is true.
I have also seen students who seemingly had all the cards stacked against them (and with the most negative attitudes) make dramatic improvement...but almost always with the help of a mentor...be it a coach, a neighbor, a member of clergy or a teacher.
Or, perhaps, some of the negative people are meant to exist...just to make the rest of us look GOOD, no matter how much weight we gain :-)
Posted by: susan | 11 June 2006 at 01:20
P.S. Are you going to look into finding out about your friends? Keep us posted!
Posted by: Rosa | 11 June 2006 at 00:18
Isn't it funny, like you said. Who has time to think of the negative! I say live life to the fullest and enjoy what is in front of you. Yes, we all have our misery at times and it is to make us stronger and appreciate the good. Wouldn't it be a boring life to have everything good all the time? I say it would. (Ask me when I'm down, I'll tell you a different story! hehe)
Posted by: Rosa | 11 June 2006 at 00:17
hmmmm. Good ones. I can saftly say that the question of what makes a survivor, is probably why I went into psychology at all! I can think of kids I have worked with who are just incredible! Who have such grit and light in them! And then others, who have maybe not even gone through as much, and they are just so tender and fragile... It is fascinating. It is also the basis of a novel I want to write based on my own family history.
:)
Posted by: amber | 11 June 2006 at 00:06
Hi! I think I like the same mysteries as you! But you know this anyway.... the image is as great as the text. My guess to your question is 1. temperament, which is either due to genetic nor the environment and 2. A combo of the latter... Great post as usual. Your writing is so good, clean, clear AND not boring, ever, with the variety of subjects embraced... See you soon...
Ann Marie
Posted by: Ann Marie Simard | 10 June 2006 at 23:58
Oh I love where this piece on mysteries led to... some of the answers to life truly are a mystery... and I too wonder why some people survive an illness and others
do not... I always had a Nancy Drew book in my hand as a kid... loved them.. my daughter reads them now. and Clue was my favorite game too.... I always won !
Great thought provoking post Tara !
Posted by: diana | 10 June 2006 at 23:01