Shooting Stars

About the Book

Reno arts reporter Laura Mackenzie is enjoying a quiet New Year’s Eve by a cozy fire when her evening and her life are changed forever by the startling ring of the telephone.

Singer/songwriter Jack Diamond has died tragically in an automobile accident and she is summoned to write a human interest story about his life. While listening to the radio on her way to the office, she hears one of Diamond’s lesser known but most moving compositions. The song celebrates the beauty of the Earth and its inhabitants, with words that leave Laura’s cheeks wet with tears. As the music fades, a shooting star flashes across the sky, seeming to stretch effortlessly from one horizon to the other. Later, she is still so touched by the song that she searches for any information about Diamond’s inspiration for the piece. What she discovers paves the way for a journey alive with vivid dreams, mysterious encounters, and amazing coincidences.

Laura’s search uncovers one remarkably similar artistic creation for each decade of the 20th Century. Each is titled Heaven’s Jewels and each uses carefully selected imagery to convey its message. Stretching from the early 1900s through the end of the century are works as diverse as a photograph, a Navajo rug, and a choreographed dance. Just as diverse as the mediums are the artists’ interpretations of the source of their inspiration. Each artist or their surviving family member recalls an identical precipitating event, but each offers a different explanation of the experience.

Laura’s research takes both her and the reader to some of the most beautiful places in the United States. From Vermont to Oregon, from Texas to Hawaii, she enjoys scenery ranging from picturesque waterfalls in lush, green settings to red rock spires that rise suddenly from the dusty floor of stark deserts. In the end, Laura’s findings not only reveal the dual message of the artworks, but they also provide the truths that help heal her own wounded heart.

About the Author

Shooting Stars is Laurie Samsel Olson’s second book. Her first, He Was Still My Daddy, was a moving account of her father’s struggle with schizoaffective disorder and the effect it had on her family. Ms. Olson spent nine years as a journalist in Portland, Oregon, before transitioning to social services in 1988. Today she leads a grants management team in Nevada where she has made her home since 1997. Since August 2014, she has also written a weekly blog called "Notes From My Mother" (http://notesfrommymother.wordpress.com). She is the mother of a grown son and daughter and the grandmother of two boys. Shooting Stars is her tribute to John Denver who inspired her concern for the environment.