Gus Dupin, strolling alongside the stillness of Stony Lake within the gathering night time, acknowledged the modern motorboat approaching his dock. A woman in a shiny yellow sundress jumped off and sprinted to his mailbox, dropping in an envelope earlier than working again. As she set off into the lake, she yelled “an honest-to-God letter” over her shoulder.

Gus Dupin was not accustomed to receiving letters or messages of any sort. His cottage lacked an web connection and cellphone service, and that was precisely how he appreciated it. He had retreated to Stony Lake to flee the obligations of his job as a professor educating crime and cyber fiction on the University of Toronto and the agonies of his latest divorce. So, as he watched the motorboat carve the water in high quality white curves, the filament of human contact retreating throughout the lake, the disappearing boat provoked disquiet and pleasure in equal measure.

The envelope smelled barely candy and nice, and the sides have been jagged and uneven. Inside, the invitation was handwritten; the paper thick, luxurious, and handmade.

It is with nice sorrow that we announce the passing of Peggy Firmin, whose contributions to literature have left an indelible mark on the hearts and minds of readers world wide.

As a token of our respect and admiration for her life and work, we cordially invite you to affix us in paying our ultimate respects at her funeral, which can happen on the twenty-first of August at 17 Colonel Road, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

No black apparel or somber faces right here. This is a celebration of life, an intimate affair. Peggy Firmin will current her personal eulogy, so you recognize it’ll be one. Only a choose few have been invited. RSVP

For a second, his thoughts was clean—Gus couldn’t fairly grasp find out how to really feel. He was a Peggy Firmin scholar, however he had been so lower off in his cottage that he hadn’t heard the information of her passing. Learning of Peggy Firmin’s dying was like studying concerning the dying of an outdated lover. It was just like the closing of an incredible restaurant in a metropolis the place he used to stay.

Every yr, Gus lectured on her work to a brand new group of scholars on the college. He had even written a ebook about her novel, God, Inc. But Gus had by no means really met Peggy Firmin. He would by no means have dreamed of being invited to her funeral.

He questioned what the invitation meant by Peggy Firmin giving her personal eulogy. It wasn’t the primary time he had questioned what Peggy Firmin meant.

Gus often loved the solitude of being disconnected from the web and cellphone. He all of the sudden ached for information. So, the following morning, he steered his Boston Whaler throughout Stony Lake, relishing in its clean floor as the nice and cozy solar beamed down and the mild breeze cooled him. His pocket began buzzing—Gus’s cellphone buzzed each time he handed the road the place his cellphone service reconnected.

He eased into the marina and made his technique to the Regency Cafe, which was already crowded. With their faces fastened to their telephones, the cottagers hardly seen the white clouds scudding overhead or the pungent aroma of the placid lake water, absorbed in their very own personal data bubbles.

Gus sat down at a sales space, opened his cellphone, and skim the primary information merchandise that got here up when he searched “Peggy Firmin”—a chunk from CP24.

Canadian literary icon Peggy Firmin was discovered shot useless on a bridge on the Leslie Street Spit, a wilderness space on the East Side of Toronto, on August 14. The location was so distant that there have been no witnesses to the crime. Toronto Police are treating the incident as a murder.

According to sources near the investigation, Firmin was shot as soon as in the proper temple. No gun was recovered on the scene. Firmin’s lifeless physique was found by a bunch of cyclists early on the morning of August 14.

A outstanding and influential determine in Canadian literature, Firmin’s sudden and violent dying has shocked the nation’s literary neighborhood. Her agent, Beverly Bookman, launched an announcement: “We have no comment to make at this time. The apparent murder of Peggy Firmin should horrify anyone who cares about language.”