25 years ago today, I became a partner in Mace & Jones, the Liverpool law firm where I continue to work. So my elevation came on April Fool’s Day – and by an interesting coincidence, I qualified as a solicitor on April Fool’s Day, back in 1980. Perhaps that says something about my legal career.
I also got married one April day, and – much to my Dad’s amusement – insisted that the celebratory music, nearly all of which was written by my hero Burt Bacharach, should include the theme song to an unremarkable movie that I’ve never seen, called… The April Fools. A very beautiful melody, by the way.
All of which leads me to a question which I hope the knowledgeable people who glance at this blog may be able to answer. I’ve never come across a story which had, as an important element of the plot, the fact that it was set on April Fool’s Day. I have such an idea in mind, but before I start writing it down, I’d be interested to know if anyone has beaten me to it…..
I had my interview for a place in university on 1st April 1963. It was supposed to be at 12.00 too late for an April Fool's joke, but I had to go in earlier as a candidate from Northern Ireland was delayed. I was offered a place then and there as an outstanding candidate, or they were short of short rugby players.
ReplyDeleteTwenty years later my first son was born on 1st April.
Thanks, Uriah. I rather like good April Fool stories in the media - there 's a nice one today in The Guardian, for example.
ReplyDeleteUm April Fool story in the Guardian was that the story about replacing the paper with twitter or this one:
ReplyDeleteBrown says G20 'within a few hours of agreeing global plan for recovery and reform'
Good question!!
ReplyDeleteI know a lady who was born on 1 April but has always celebrated her birthday on 31 March.
ReplyDeleteI also know twins who were born on 1 April in the millennium year - a year when everyone was having babies, but twins on 1 April might be considered to be one joke too far? ;-)
Sorry, Martin, cannot think of an April Fools' mystery, but I am sure there must be one - I will watch out for Janet Rudolph later as she often runs "themed" mysteries on appropriate days.
So far the only April Fools' joke that has been attempted on me (so far as I know) is an office memo from our administrators to say that we have to take used ball-point pens to heve them checked off as empty before we are allowed to requisition a new one. At least, I hope that is a joke!
As predicted! Here's Janet Rudolph's post on April Fools' mysteries -
ReplyDeletehttp://mysteryreadersinc.blogspot.com/2009/03/april-fools-mysteries.html
Ellery Queen's "Calendar of Crime": the April story may be such an example.
ReplyDeleteJakob
Thanks, Maxine, Janet is very knowledgable! And thanks, Jakob. I have a copy of the Ellery Queen book somewhere, so I'll check it out.
ReplyDeleteInteresting angle.
ReplyDeleteI googled it, and found an American thriller (film) with the title "April Fool's Day".
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fool%27s_Day_(film)
I've come across a few that sound as if they might given their titles, but do not in the execution. But one in which April Fool's Day is most definitely an integral part of the proceedings is Robert Fields' The April Fool. The murders take place on April Fool's Day, and there is an April Fool's joke at the foundation of the plot.
ReplyDeleteNo, Martin, I can't think of any myself, although it sounds just the sort of thing that Golden Age writers would have loved.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for these comments. The film looks rather interesting, Dorte. As for Fields' book, Philip, can you tell me if it is a good read?
ReplyDeleteNo, Martin, not a good read. It is quite short, and while the premise is good, I rather suspect Fields had at least one eye on a movie deal -- the characters are young and it has something of Friday the 13th and similar about it. April 1 is my birthday, and I was given it as a jokey present. A bottle of Glenmorangie would have been considerably more entertaining.
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