Thursday, December 20, 2007

Monday, December 10, 2007

Coxsackie, NY

Your girl was in Coxsackie, NY yesterday (Sunday, December 9) about 8:30 AM just off the Thruway exit on Route 9W at an Extra Mart/Sunoco. She stoped my friend as he was pumping gas, wished him a Merry Christmas and told him her story. The story finished with the requisite compliment on his smile and a request for a ride to a church or transportation to I95 to get to DC. He drove off with the manifesto, marked as "protocol" and called me immediately since I'm a writer that dabbles in stream-of-consciousness tracts and the occasional rant. While it was already clear this woman was mentally ill (schizophrenia, or some sort of fugue state, no doubt) he wanted me to critique the piece and glean some sort of meanign from it. Later in teh morning, she ended up at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, just up the street from my apartment. She burst into mass, copies of her manifesto cascading form her hands down the aisles as she rambled about the black Church, oppression and microwaves. Can you please tell me what you know about this woman? The police were called but she was gone before they swarmed the church. I forwarded the updated scan of her protocol, which appears to be a work in progress. Hope to hear from you. Is there a myspace group with photos? I didn't get to see her, but an entire congergation now has copies of her manifesto, which desperately needs an editor.

Some questions and possible theories:

Was this woman molested or prostituted by her pastor, John Rodwin Ringwald? Who's Carl Wyman? And I'm asuming we're not talking about microwaves, the appliance, but microwaves, the frequency.

Also -- do you think this woman poses a significant threat to the public? "Kill the collection girl" sounds like it's a real, malevolent decree.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Glenmont, NY

I just gave Marilyn a ride in Glenmont NY at around 12:30 today. she asked me for a ride to staples. i decided this was going to be a quiet ride, since i wasn't sure what she would be asking of me. after loading her black suitcase and clear bag of many rolls of toilet paper, the 1st thing she said was 'are there many blacks here?" i was shocked, i said "in Albany" and she said, no, here. I said I have no idea. she said she had to get out of albany. then she asked me for a donation for her copies. i politely declined. then she said she was an activist like martin luther king before he died. then she handed me her manifesto wrapped around a kmart ad. she said that her name was marilyn gibbs and she wanted me to have this. then she thanked me for the ride, asked me if there were any churches around. i pointed to the one across the street. she told me i had a great smile and thanked me for being a white light on her journey.

i am still confused, but realized that she was definitely not all there. very nice though.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Tewksbury, MA

I saw Marilyn this morning at the entrance to a Home Depot in Tewksbury, MA this morning (12/6/07). Getting off I-495, I stopped at a light to wait to go in to the HD parking lot. I noticed a woman standing by the entrance with a satchel. She tentatively crossed the entranceway. It struck me as a little odd - as if she were not sure where to wait for a bus to pick her up, despite the fact that there is not a bus stop there. The fact that it was 15 degrees F out made it a little stranger that someone was hanging out there. I figured she might be waiting for a ride.

On my way out of the parking lot, I stopped at the light. The woman was back to the original side of the entranceway. She approached my car, and knocked on the passenger side window. She asked me which direction on the interstate she should go to get to Worcester (about 35 miles away). Right there, I figured we had a problem. Having met a number of people with perspectives of reality very different from my own, I immediately went on the defensive. I told her which direction she should go. I figured she was going to ask for a ride, and immediately knew I was going to say "no", although my first inclination with most people would be to say "yes". To my surprise, she didn't ask for the ride. She politely thanked me for my help and went back to the side of the entranceway. A moment later, she knocked on my window, and told me I had a nice smile and the nicest demeanor of anyone she had met that morning. I thanked her, and then the request for the ride came. When I informed her that I was going in the opposite direction, she asked if I could at least give her a ride a couple of exits down in the other direction. Meanwhile, I'm missing the green light, wondering how long I can be polite for. I told her I couldn't, as I had to get to work (which was true - for some strange reason, I was relieved I didn't have to lie). She thanked me and gave a pair of stapled sheets of paper. I figured it was a religious tract. She said "Motel 6" (which practically next door to the HD) and gave me the thumbs up with a big smile, and walked back to the side of the HD entrance. I glanced at the first line on the paper - it read "Kill the Collection Girl". I immediately sensed that she was not a religious pilgrim for any church I was familiar with. I think we all know what the rest of the tract was like.

Mental illness can be a terrible thing. Marilyn seems to have an upbeat personality, despite the fact that her writings suggest a very troubled person. I wonder what her quest is, how it started, and how she manages the financial aspects of her life. I wish her the best.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Burlington, MA

I just gave a ride to Marilyn in Burlington, Massachusetts. I picked
her up at the corner of Route 62 and Network Drive at about 10:30 am,
12/5/07. She said she was an activist like Martin Luther King and
something about who killed him. She first asked to go to a restaurant,
and then changed her mind asking to be dropped off at a church. She
said that she had been kicked out of a shelter. When I dropped her off,
she gave me her 2 page "brochure" (same as the one posted for Waterbury,
VT on 12/3/07) and a Staples brochure folded inside. She borrowed a pen
and on the back of the "brochure" wrote:
"0510 Bus, 10:20 am
Oral Sex Ride, Racketeering"

Monday, December 3, 2007

North Chelmsford, MA

Chelmsford Mills, North Chelmsford, MA - Dec 3 @ 3:00PM

Middle Aged Black woman

Waterbury, VT

I have a Marilyn sighting. A co worker pointed me to this site after I told him my strange story and he did a qucik google search.
It was outside a brew pub in Waterbury VT Friday 11/30 just before midnight, I wandered over to my car in the back of the Bank North parking lot. From behind me I hear a "hello.....excuse me....". It was a late 30's early 40's black women looking for a ride to where she was staying. Well since I live in a town/state that is 99.9% white, I figure she's not local and could use a lift. It was a cold night, she didn't look like she was dressed for a long winter walk, so I ask "where to" and she tells me the Best Western. No problem, right on my way home. While getting in the car, she asks me if there are any "clubs" in town (now I know she's not from around here). I explain that the two bars we have are closing, maybe there's something in Montpelier. I ask her where she's from and she tells me Auburn, CA which is pretty close to where I lived in Tahoe. We chat about that for maybe a minute. Half way to the hotel, the conversation gets a bit weird. She tells me of conspiracy theories, people out to get her, government stuff, etc, etc. I pull into the drop off area at the hotel, and she stays in my car for five minutes still telling me this stuff, giving me names of people to "Google", etc. I'm just nodding, smiling, and hoping she's getting out of my car soon. Before leaving she produces the attached two documents for me to take home. She had a whole stack of them. Thankfully she got out of the car and went on her way.