It’s not that obscure, especially if you’re a classic rock nerd.
Back in 1972, I was studying for my graduate school comprehensive exams. Suddenly, an idea for a fiction short story occurred to me, and I promptly started writing. The story, titled "A Nice Morning Drive," was set in the distant future (1982!) and involved Modern Safety Vehicles (MSV's) that could damage older, pre-safety-bumper cars without incurring any harm themselves. With a mixture of hope and presumption, I sent it off to Road & Track magazine--and they decided to publish it! (They even paid me $200, which was a lot of money back then, especially to a broke graduate student.) The article appeared in the November 1973 issue.
Neil Peart, who had joined Rush a couple of years earlier and who has been a sports car enthusiast all his life, read the story. Flash forward to 1980, and he decided to write a song for the band featuring a science fiction story line inspired by the R&T article. He substituted his all-time favorite car, a Ferrari 166MM, for the MGB from "A Nice Morning Drive" (although he had previously owned an MGB himself). He also portrayed a more extreme, futuristic setting involving a man-and-machine confrontation with The Man and a totalitarian world that had outlawed cars altogether. "Red Barchetta" first appeared on the Moving Pictures album and became one of Rush's top ten all-time songs (roughly speaking; when you've made 18 albums and a huge number of outstanding songs, picking the top ten would be an exercise in frustration and disagreement!).
At the time, Neil tried to get in touch with me, but R&T no longer had my correct address on hand. So he added a citation at the end of the song's lyrics in the liner notes.
Flash forward again, to 1996. We had just gotten Internet access in my office, and one of the guys entered my name into a search engine just for fun. It promptly took him to a Rush fan site, where there was an online copy of my story. We figured out the connection between "A Nice Morning Drive" and "Red Barchetta" and marveled at how many years we had failed to discover it. (I had heard the song on the radio, but I hadn't focused on its lyrics carefully enough to make the connection.)
Prior to this point, I was somewhat Parked in the Sixties, musically speaking, listening to such groups as the Jefferson Airplane, the Animals, the Zombies, Simon & Garfunkle, Country Joe and the Fish, and The Ventures (of course!). Naturally, after making the connection to "Red Barchetta," I immediately became a Rush fan and began catching up with the band's considerable catalog.
Well, now we have to flash forward again, this time to 2006. At the DC International Motorcycle Show, my friend Dave told me about a book by Neil Peart, titled Ghost Rider. In the book, Neil described how he tried to find himself again following the tragic deaths of, first, his college-age daughter and, subsequently, his wife. Emotionally, he was completely devastated and just empty--beyond any level that most of us can imagine. Eventually, all he could do was to keep moving, so he got on his R1100GS and started riding. Many months and well over 100,000 miles later, he began finding the will to return to life and to stop being the 'ghost rider.'
My friend Dave thought the book was outstanding and recommended it to me highly. Last Fall, I bought a copy, and I soon found myself in thorough agreement with Dave's assessment. It was a moving and eloquent story, and I couldn't put it down.
In December, I wrote a letter to Neil Peart saying how much I liked Ghost Rider and explaining that I was the Richard S. Foster from "A Nice Morning Drive" all those years ago. I wasn't especially optimistic that Neil would even get the letter, since he and the other band members receive thousands every year, but in early January I received a package containing a copy of his newest book, RoadShow. It had a very nice inscription on the title page, and there was also a long letter in the package.
In his letter, Neil remarked on the many connections we had between us, dating back roughly 35 years. I responded in a letter that, in addition to the story, song, and the fact that we both currently ride R1200GS's, another similarity is that I, too, am a member of a world-famous 'power trio,' The Surftones. (You say you haven't heard of this band? Neither had Neil...)
Thus began a long series of e-mails that eventually led to planning a GS ride together while Neil was on the East Coast for the 2007 "Snakes and Arrows" World Tour....
"A Nice Morning Drive" by Richard S. Foster