It’s no secret that I’d like to have more land; who wouldn’t? Even another 25 acres or so. And I’ve been wondering about the parcel next to us . . .
Finally, I looked up the owners to see if they’d be interested in selling. The answer was apparently yes, as the taxes were delinquent and, indeed, it had been sold two years ago but the new owner never filed the deed or paid taxes since. That meant that the property had reverted back to the original owners.
Who were deceased.
I’d like to thank Google and the Internet for their invaluable help in this matter. Ha.
Since when are the Whitepages NOT free?? I was going nuts trying to find phone numbers. Seems those don’t exist any longer, unless you want to get an account and pay a fee. No, thanks.
First, I searched for the name of the couple, which is when I found out he was a rather famous literary agent—how weird is that—and that he’d died in 1993. His wife, too, had passed away in 2006 or 2007. Since Mr. M was very well-known, his obit was still available online with only a cursory search. And they had two children . . .
So I emailed the agency, which still exists. Surprisingly, they answered right away but had no information to contact the family.
No, they did not offer me representation or a contract.
Next, I looked for the last known address. It had been sold in 2007.
But, the children’s names and addresses were on the deed transfer documents—bingo! However, people do move; we’ve done so several times since 2007. Four, to be exact.
So far, this search had spanned the eastern half of the country: New York, New Jersey, Missouri, and Illinois.
I went on Facebook (duh) and found someone who may have been the daughter; she hadn’t posted since 2009. I found several possibilities for the son, too, but hardly any of them had posted in years either. I mean, come on—once in a blue moon I’ll see something on TimeHop that tells me I didn’t post on Facebook THAT DAY. DAY, not years!
Finally, I found someone that I thought was a match for the son—so I emailed him and asked.
And he wrote back and said yes, he was, and he noticed I was a writer so, he asked, is that how I knew his father?
I WISH! This guy repped Arthur C. Clark and Philip K. Dick, among others. Holy smoke. I WISH.
But no, I told him I was interested in buying the property in Missouri. We exchanged a few emails. He’ll actually be in the state in a month or so, and he wants to come see it.
Keep your fingers crossed!
Robin Writes 