Wednesday, April 22, 2026

Wheel of Fortune and a dying man's wish

I'm reading some things Leo wrote, and I think it's okay for me to quote this part that I read this morning, since Leo already posted it in "Baggu Kru":

A worm that dieth not nor fades in existence, but held in reserve for a dying man’s wish to be told where might be found openings to a cave containing lights substantial of aforetime telling. Bending upon one’s knee a cart wheel left for others to wheel about in spinning magicks like a wheel of fortune binding laughter of a contestant knowing to solve puzzle. A "say Jack" delighted to bring forth treasures won fair and square. Wondering lights in bright faces to cheers of onlookers delighted and overjoyed at another’s good fortune. A live studio audience in-brought to witness hell’s escaped, spinning for fortune’s grace.

I've bolded the parts "a dying man's wish," "a wheel of fortune," and phrases that are clearly intended to suggest the TV game show Wheel of Fortune, formerly hosted by Pat Sajak.

Just before reading that passage in Leo's document, I had read in The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik about Noah's conversation with Mr. Elam, a very old man who seemed resigned to dying soon.

"When it's my time, it's my time," he says on more than one occasion, which leads me to wonder, Does this man hasten his time?

Mr. Elam has been married for 42 years when his wife Barbara dies, making him very old when this next bit happens:

Ten years after Barbara died, Mr. Elam fulfilled a lifelong dream of qualifying for Wheel of Fortune. He did well, was up the whole game until the puzzle turned to pop culture, and the before and after phrase incorporated a current movie star, and Mr. Elam hasn't "seen a single movie since 1990," because that's when The Godfather Part III came out, which put him off movies for the rest of his life.

He lost tens of thousands on that puzzle.

The "lifelong dream" of a very old widower is obviously closely akin to "a dying man's wish," and the passage twice uses puzzle, which also appears in Leo's text.

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Wheel of Fortune and a dying man's wish

I'm reading some things Leo wrote, and I think it's okay for me to quote this part that I read this morning, since Leo already poste...