The Mystery of The Missing Rock Star
by Mischa

Do you believe in synchronicity? It seems Storm does and now, so do I.

You see, I'd always wanted to read Storm's Thin Air, but had never been able to find a copy. I'm not alone in this, it seems, if the activity on the wraeththu group is anything to go by. But I was luckier than most.

I have a friend named Addie and she agreed to post me her copy so I could indulge. Well, I read it and a cracking good read it is. The reference to "cracks" is a pun you'll recognise if you are one of those fortunate enough to have read the story.

But see, I'm not going to review the book. This is not a review; it's about me finding out about synchronicity, which is where the magazine comes in.

My eldest daughter, who had just finished reading Thin Air herself, is also an ardent teen purchaser of weekly magazines which she tends to read and then discard in various strange locations about the house.

This week, the same week we both finished Thin Air, she did just that. In an idle moment, I flicked through this assembly of gossip, makeup tips and articles about Winona shoplifting and Posh Spice's horror kidnap attempt, and, then, there it was.

A two page article entitled, "The Mystery of the Missing Rock Star." It even had colour photos! Wow!

Of course, I read it and, the more I read, the more the little hairs on the back of my neck stood up and screamed shrilly.

It begins with the line, "On a cold, foggy morning at 7 a.m. on February 1, 1995, Richey Edwards stepped out of London's Embassy Hotel, got into his Vauxhall Cavalier and drove away. He was never seen again."

That, essentially, is the story line of Thin Air.

So, I read on, more and more convinced that Storm, too, must have heard of Richey and that his story in some way inspired her own.

Riche Edwards, Maniac Street Preachers

You see, Richey was the lyricist and guitarist with a band called the Maniac Street Preachers and, the day he vanished, they were due to fly to New York. He'd said he didn't want to go. Two weeks later, the 27-year-old's car was found abandoned by the Severn Bridge in Bristol, a notorious suicide spot, but they never found a body.

Richey'd been treated for depression and alcohol problems, practised self-mutilation and talked about cutting off his own fingers. He was not handling the band's burgeoning fame very well. Classic symptoms of the suicidal and many people believe that this is what happened to Richey.

But not his family. They believe he's alive and well somewhere. They refuse to have him declared dead now that the required seven years has passed. Fans of the band continue to report sightings, even the remaining band members have not given up hope. His percentage of royalties is still paid by them into an account in his name, in case he should ever require it. It totals something like 3.6 million pounds.

I couldn't stand it. I had to know. Was this Thin Air's Dex?

Fortunately, last night, I chanced across Storm online. She said, "Hi." I said, "Hey Storm, ever heard of a guy called Richey Edwards?"

She initially said no. I was crushed. Then it was, "Wait a minute, are you talking about Ritchey? About Thin Air?" I replied that, yes, indeed I was and she confirmed my suspicions.

The intriguing story of Richey was indeed inspiration for Dex in Thin Air. I told her about the article and she replied with the simple statement that it was synchronicity at work. She also mentioned that, last she'd heard, Richey had been seen in Goa.

There is such a thing as synchronicity and I have been its latest victim.