Fred Ruskin barreled through the rain down Buchanan Street in his battered Pacer, the jar his dead wife had directed him to retrieve from his nephew’s coffin bouncing in the seat beside him.

Joe DeRouen
About This Quote

Fred Ruskin barreled through the rain down Buchanan Street in his battered Pacer, the jar his dead wife had directed him to retrieve from his nephew’s coffin bouncing in the seat beside him. Fred Ruskin was a Scottish author and artist who lived from 1849 to 1931. He was known as one of the great pioneers of modern art movements such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. As a young man, he travelled the world and experienced many adventures.

One day, Fred Ruskin met a woman whom he later married before returning home to Scotland. Unfortunately, only a year after their marriage, Fred’s wife died of tuberculosis. About 10 years later, he moved back to London where he met up with his sister Jennie.

Jennie had just become engaged to her fiancé, George Buchanan. George owned a small bicycle shop on Buchanan Street in Edinburgh where he sold bicycles for children at the time. One day, George let Fred borrow his bicycle so that Fred could do some exploring around town.

While riding on the back wheel of George’s bicycle, Fred crashed into a brick wall leaving him with a broken arm and fractured skull before George found him lying on the sidewalk. When they picked him up off of the ground, they discovered that both of his legs were broken as well! The doctors told him that he would never walk again. Not realizing how serious his injuries were at first, Fred insisted that he would be able to walk again if only he could get his jar back from his nephew’s coffin!

Source: Small Things

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