NOT SO LONG AGO I CONFESSED TO A NEWFOUND ACQUAINTANCE my admiration for Mel Stuart’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. But more on that in a moment. Suffice to say I was initially taken back to see my name included in the title of a YouTube video—more-so shaken than stirred. I would be lying if I denied my fingers trembled somewhat. Then again, that could have been the coffee. The butterflies in my stomach however were not caffeinated.

I am conclusively honored and humbled to be mentioned with such regard by Will in his “The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction” YouTube channel. It is after all my favorite online subscription. Will is well-informed that my first Flat Earth book, Avoid Science Falsely So-Called, would never have been published had it not been for his video on F.E. Pasche, “50 Reasons: Copernicus or the Bible.” More specifically, it was my publisher whom I met in the comments section. In other words, Will has been a God-send. And I’m blessed to have made his acquaintance as of late.

Actually, there was about three months there—while writing Avoid Science Falsely So-Called up in Canada—where I had to completely tune out “The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction.” It certainly wasn’t out of animosity. Quite contrarily, I recall reading somewhere how Tim Burton, when seeking the right screen writer for his lesser version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, purposely hired an individual—I believe his name is John August—who’d never seen the far-superior original with Gene Wilder. According to Burton, it was important that their influence didn’t mix. Perhaps they should have. This much I confessed to Will over a parlay of e-mails and the phone. Invoking the original film’s theme-song, Pure Imagination, was a subtle touch in this video. It was a friendly jab—as inside jokes go. And I fully agree. Indeed, “The Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction” is the far superior version.

Thank you, Will. This has been my golden ticket.

Maranatha from Destin, Florida!

Noel