Local Color

I just finished reading Vince Flynn's Executive Power. I have to pat myself on the back a bit, because I actually picked it up from the library 2 weeks before I allowed myself to start it. I had goals I needed to accomplish before I could read it, so I kept walking past the library box where the book was, truly, screaming for my attention each time I saw it there.

Flynn included in his book an interesting reference, a cameo appearance one might say, of a local Minnesota personality. When Joe and I lived in Mankato, we could tune into AM1500 from the Twin Cities while in our car. We would periodically listen to Joe Soucheray, host of the Garage Logic radio show. Since that time, Mr. Soucheray's show has spread and we've picked it up on a number of different stations around MN. His basic schtick is that good ol' boys sitting around their garages tinkering and tipping back a few cold ones have the wisdom to solve the world's problems if only someone would listen.

Mr. Flynn is also from the Twin Cities. Some readers familiar with the Garage Logic show will appreciate the following quote.

CIA director and single mom of seven year old Timmy, Irene Kennedy, is musing about the male role models in her son's life.

There was also the quirky Frenchman a few doors down, Mr. Soucheray, who hung out in his garage all day listening to the radio, tinkering with an endless array of gadgets and pursuing his lifelong fascination with the internal combustion engine.

I really enjoy it when an author can include cultural illusions, both well known and obscure, that bring pleasure to those who notice them, without detracting from the pleasure of those who are not in the know.