Innermost Thought

A few years ago I discovered some really old papers. Upon discovery, I put them with my "sort of old" papers and left them in a file cabinet in my dad's garage. On one visit home I unearthed a wealth of old stories, essays, and papers I'd written dating back to when I was about 7. While there may be other papers and notes left home, I brought some of my favorites to NYC. The earliest extant work was a short and grammatically incorrect story about a dragon who discovered he could pop popcorn. I remembered this story and was quite impressed with my child-self that she had written such a cute story...or at least so I thought. "What a great idea for a children's book!" I thought. I resolved to clean it up and then see what I could do to get it published. Then I googled the title. It turns out that Popcorn Dragon was actually written in 1953 by a lady named Jane Thayer. Seeing as how Jane's story is at least 25-30 years older than my story, there's no question I'm a thief. Plagiarist! Nefarious ne'er do well like those kids in Kansas the school board refused to fail after cheating.

I don't take this lightly as a huge bone of contention within my former company was with a former partner's refusal to acknowledge that the initial "coining of the phrase" came from me and was borrowed from an article idea I was cultivating when I stayed with him for a few weeks upon first moving to NYC. It's a long story. Essentially I thought he might have forgotten our conversations and accidentally thought he "discovered" the idea when in fact he'd heard it before...much as I did with "Popcorn Dragon". It turned out not to be the case. After telling me he'd gotten the name from a friend who asserted otherwise, and confirmation from his then domestic partner recalling the conversation in which I told them both of my idea including the title, I realized he could not or would not ever admit his error though I feel certain that he knows he made it.

While I whole-heartedly gave the name to my company when I started it with my partners and resolved that using the name as the company's brand would solve any and all ownership issues, I do think it was ignoble of him to ignore the truth of the matter. After all, it was a mistake that could happen to anyone. Even me.

So I guess there's no "Popcorn Dragon" by Meredith Lucio. I must have read the book in school and the assignment was to write it again in your own words not, as my adult-self had assumed, make a story. My children's author carreer will have to wait.

Jane Thayer, as far as Dexter the Popcorn Dragon goes...well done! and um...sorry I forgot it was your story. Damn, I was a sneaky 7-year old.