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I have three items for my write-up today on Stephen King's The Stand: The Complete and Uncut Edition,
1. On pages 547-548, Glen Bateman refers to a 1958 article in a sociology journal by a James D.L. Staunton, which argued that there is a higher number of cancellations before a train or airplane crash than there otherwise is. Glen Bateman mentioned that article to argue that we are all psychic, in some capacity.
I did an Internet search of James D.L. Staunton, and I only found him in connection with The Stand. Many have had a similar experience in their search for Staunton, and so they conclude that Staunton was not real but merely fictional.
2. On page 540, there is a lady named Peri, whose companion Mark is dying of an appendicitis. Peri reflects on how, prior to the superflu, most men ignored or dismissed her, and she thinks that Mark would have done so, too, under normal circumstances. But she met Mark after the superflu had decimated much of the population, and they were bonded by their attempt to cope and to move forward. There are cases in which timing, circumstances, and shared experiences can open the door to a relationship. That doesn't mean, however, that anyone can be in a relationship with anyone, for people still bring their own personalities into the equation, and some personalities are more compatible than others.
3. Harold and Stu are not getting along too well, for Harold is insecure and views Stu as like the clowning football players from his high school days. This somewhat surprised me, because, although Stu was a football player, he does not strike me as a privileged clown or as a bully, for he is the strong, silent type. But Stu sometimes deals with Harold by asking Harold for advice, which often ends up well because Harold knows a lot. That can be one way to deal with insecure people: to give them an opportunity to contribute with their talents.
At the same time, as Peri notes, the group that consists of Peri, Glen, Harold, Fran, and others has a lot of intellectual brain power, but not always the hands-on practical wisdom that is necessary. Most of the group is college educated, and its members love to shoot the intellectual B.S. But only Stu worked at a factory and knew how to put things together. That was why he had some ability to take out Mark's appendix---as he looked at medical books---even though Mark died before his appendix was finally removed. So it's good when we can contribute our talents, but some talents may be better for some situations than others. But we all may have talents that we don't know about.
