The library
Stories of extraordinary chance
Twelve true accounts from John Reed, in his own words — each one a moment when a stranger turned out to be a thread back to somewhere he'd already been.
How We Met
The girl with the Salem cigarettes
I had a written list of everything my ideal woman should be. The very top item was "shall not be a smoker." Then I glanced at a checkout stand in…
Berkeley, 1961Read the story No. 02Full Circle
Frank Hungerford
I offered to help a man at the Apple Store. His credit card read "Frank Hungerford" — and a question about his father led, eventually, to the home…
Palo Alto & Claremont, 2018Read the story No. 03A Memorable Day
Miyoko Nakano
As a boy in Corinne, Utah, I threw up on a little girl at the blackboard. More than sixty years later, in a meeting in Mountain View, I asked a…
Corinne, Utah & Mountain View, 2017Read the story No. 04Making Amends
Lester Vincent
A stranger drove me to a precinct walk in New Hampshire. Her first question — "Where are you from, John?" — unwound, one answer at a time, into a…
Providence, Rhode Island, 2008Read the story No. 05Yosemite Bus
John Hayes
On a standing-room-only shuttle in Yosemite, a little boy reached for my glasses. The man holding him turned out to be the one person in America…
Yosemite, 2010Read the story No. 07Miss Utah
Iain Lamb
A classmate of mine had been runner-up Miss Utah. Years later, a young man came to pick up his repaired computer, and one look at his name told me…
Palo Alto, around 2010Read the story No. 08Skinny Dipping
Nadja Swarovski
A lovely blonde lady needed a new computer. Her name was Swarovski — which gave me the chance to send regards to a man I'd gone skinny dipping with…
Palo AltoRead the story No. 09Ira Glass and Yo-Yo Ma
Two famous strangers at the register
A woman came to pick up her iMac and said her brother would carry it out. He handed me a credit card reading "Ira Glass." A few years later, another…
Burlingame & Palo AltoRead the story No. 10Running Into Roger Baird
Roger Baird
At sixteen I collided with a car whose turn signal had been wired backward by a mechanic. Years later, in a different state, a neighbor asked me an…
Ogden, Utah & Corona del MarRead the story No. 11Next Door Neighbors
The Jensens of Brigham City
A young couple from Chicago wanted new iPhones. Their name was Jensen — common enough where I grew up — so I asked where they were from. The answer…
Palo AltoRead the story No. 12Scholar Opera
Barbara Siegel
The southbound train was packed. I asked a woman if I could move her shopping bag and take the seat. As I sat down, she looked at me and said, "You…
Caltrain, on the PeninsulaRead the storyFrom the community
Readers have stories too
Synchronicities sent in by visitors live in their own public library — separate from John's collection, and growing with every new submission.
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