Runaway Bay - Chapter 1
Impact
A photo of Mike, Geri, and Amy probably shortly before he crashed the plane. Amy was born in October 1968, so she was not quite three years old in June 1971.
(Aren’t these old, painted photos beautiful? They often capture something that isn’t quite there in modern photos. Of course, in this case it looks like a lovely family but a lot of darkness is hidden behind the smiles.)
Below is a beautiful picture of just Amy, when she is two years old - so about the same time. Maybe even the same photo session?
The Newspaper Clippings
In the book there are two clippings, which are the most important ones. But we actually have four, which are shown below in chronological order.
June 22, 1971
Amarillo Globe-Times
June 22, 1971
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
June 23, 1971
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
June 24, 1971
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
It is clear from these clippings that on June 22, the day after the plane went missing, there was a wide search area between Ft. Worth and Lubbock. The articles don’t mention this, but Geri always told Amy that the search was the largest in the history of the state of Texas, to that point.
Then a report came in from the construction workers about seeing a plane go down in Lake Bridgeport, likely the morning of June 23 after the third article had already gone to press. From that point on the search focused on that body of water. But the plane was never found, and presumably it is still somewhere down at the bottom of the lake.
The Chair
From Chapter 1:
The girl is fascinated by those chairs. Brass knobs stud their wooden arms and legs. She likes to run her fingers along the bumps, feeling the different textures. Each chair has two upholstered cushions, one for the seat and one for the back. The cushions are bumpy in a different way. Soft little pills of fabric rise from the weave below. The material is striped, red and yellow, red and yellow. She likes to run her finger along the stripes, counting bars of each color.
…
The young girl feels faint and struggles to breathe, but she dares not move. She focuses on the red and sulfur-colored stripes of the chair, counting as she has done before. Suddenly she loathes those stripes! They look like bars on a prison cell. She hates the brass knobs pressing into her legs.
Amy wrote these words from memory. Obviously the chair was such a visceral part of this traumatic moment of her life. But she was only three years old at the time! Could this be an accurate memory?
After Amy finished the manuscript, she began searching through old family photo albums for photos to use in the book, and on this website. One day she came in excitedly waving an old photo. She had found a picture that had the chair in it! And … it was exactly as she had remembered, and described it. This was a beautiful validation that her memories from childhood, which play such an important part in this book, were accurate.
Amy and Krista opening Christmas presents … maybe 1973? The fascinating … then loathed … chair is in the background.
Runaway Bay, Texas
It is important to note that when Mike crashed the plane into Lake Bridgeport, the southern part of the lake where he put down was not yet called Runaway Bay - as far as we know. The name Runaway Bay seems to have come into existence about ten years later, when a small town was incorporated where Hwy 114 crosses Lake Bridgeport. The town is devoted mostly to recreational activities such as boating, fishing, and golf.
Why was it named Runaway Bay? We don’t know, though it is not outside the realm of possibility that the history of a man intentionally crashing his plane there in 1971 had something to do with it. More likely, though, is that the name refers to “getting away” to enjoy the leisure activities offered in the area.
When we visited Mike in Easter of 2025, after the manuscript was complete, we drove back through Runaway Bay to see the spot where it all began. Below are some pictures from that visit.
The welcome sign
Amy and I took a picture at the main entrance to the community, just off the highway
The fishing pier seemed to be a popular place to hang out
This is the part of the lake where the plane likely rests. Mike swam to shore and hitchhiked out on Hwy 114, which is the bridge seen in this photo.
Group photo near the likely spot of the plane crash - me, Amy, and our two youngest children.
Driving over the Hwy 114 bridge, looking out into Runaway Bay
A couple of words about this website of “bonus material” for Runaway Bay:
Amy didn’t create it … Thomas did. You may have already guessed that the “I” in the captions isn’t Amy, but me - her husband.
( She doesn’t really like websites. Or QR codes for that matter. Or bulleted lists like this one - a dead giveaway that she didn’t write this part. )Therefore I don’t mind making the shameless plug - if you are enjoying her phenomenal book, would you be willing to put a review on Amazon? As Amy’s “publishing partner” the one surprising thing I’ve seen is this: people love her writing, and even volunteer their time to email or text her with their responses … but getting them to post a quick review on Amazon is a whole ‘nother level of hard.
( Here’s the link, if you’re so inclined https://a.co/d/9BbaoX2 )
Thank you so much!
Amy and I celebrating our 35th anniversary in Phoenix, Arizona.