Read about the rather bizarre death of Robert Slark Day on his Find A Grave listing:

Robert Slark Day on Find A Grave

Now, assuming you have read the tale of the death of Robert Slark Day...

There are some interesting parallels between Day and the Mayfair Witches, in certain aspects. I never had the chance to ask Anne Rice if she had ever heard of this, but the comparisons are interesting by themselves. I also do not know for certain if Day's accident occurred in the house on First Street or not, but it could have.

It was the part where Day, having gotten up in the middle of the night, heard sounds coming from...the library, which was downstairs. The window of the library was found to be open, although I've never heard of a break-in where the burglar stopped to have a smoke before continuing further into the house.

In Lasher, Michael Curry, hearing sounds from the library where he'd left Mona sleeping, came back in to find that the library window was open. It hadn't been when he'd left the room just minutes earlier. And whoever had tried to enter the house through the window clearly hadn't gotten far, because Mona was just waking up, realizing something had gone on.

Another thing I learned about Robert Slark Day is that, well, he was a member of a yacht club. What gives? Michael, after taking a self-guided tour of his old neighborhood in New Orleans, met Rowan at the First Street house, I believe, the day after the funeral of Dierdre and the death of Carlotta Mayfair. As they talked, Michael pointed out that the two of them "did not meet at the yacht club". Now, what made him say that?

How they met was, Michael had tumbled into the Pacific Ocean and was literally dead for some moments before Rowan, in command of the Sweet Christine, found him floating face down. As a native of the Pacific Northwest, I can tell you this much: the Pacific Ocean really is THAT cold and THAT deadly should you tumble in the way Michael Curry did. Rowan Mayfair, at considerable personal risk to herself, somehow managed to pull Michael aboard the Sweet Christine.

The Pacific Ocean loves nothing better than to sink something, so if this was based on an actual incident, I am impressed that as far as the vessel itself went, all it cost was one dinghy.

We have arrived at the part where we discuss the vessel. The Sweet Christine was described as a 40 cabin cruiser, which is a small yacht. When her adoptive parents were still alive, they'd host parties on the deck of this vessel, as wealthy society people do. For Rowan Mayfair, it was something of a personal safety net.

I am, of course, referring to the Rowan Mayfair of the book series rather than the TV series. In the TV series, Rowan Fielding lives on the Sweet Christine. Given enough time, would the Rowan Mayfair of the books eventually have chosen to live aboard the Sweet Christine rather than the house that had become so empty after the loss of her adoptive mother, Ellie?

Impossible to say.

Whether or not Anne Rice was aware of these details about Robert Slark Day, I thought these coincidences were too interesting to NOT point out. Below the image of the Sweet Christine from The Witches' Companion are two more links with more information about Robert Slark Day. One of them discusses Day as a yachtsman...

Outing, Vol 31, January 1898

Men and Matters: A Magazine of Fact, Fancy & Fiction, Volume 2

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