COINCIDENCE

Several weeks ago I was leafing through the Sunday paper checking on upcoming movies. A couple of names I never expected to see caught my eye. Jim Stagg and Irving P. Krick.

Know who they are? Probably not, not unless you’re in the weather business. Stagg and Krick are two of the most famous meteorologists in history. They, among other weathermen, supported General Dwight David Eisenhower in making his go-no go decision regarding the invasion of Europe in June 1944. D-Day.

Ike, as he was known, held the lives of 300,000 men in his hands. He had to launch the greatest invasion in history during a very narrow window reliant on a five-day weather forecast. And believe me, forecasts in those days were nothing like the ones that populate TV and social media today.

Eighty years ago there were no colorful graphics, no ten-day predictions, and no cloud imagery from space. Ten-day predictions? Are you kidding me? Even five-day forecasts were then held in the same awe (and impossibility) as putting a man on the moon in the 1940s.

But somehow, despite limited weather data, shaky communications, and constant squabbling among the forecasters, the weather waved a magic wand over the Allies.

Now, here comes a film about all of that. It’s called “Pressure,” and stars Brendan Fraser and Damian Lewis, among others. The release date is May 29.

But the coincidence, you ask, what’s the coincidence? Well, it is that my newest novel, Five Days in June—about the exact same thing, weathermen and D-Day—comes out in October.

I think my story has an edge, however. I’ll bet “Pressure” doesn’t have a Donut Dolly in it!

I’m playing with you a bit here. After you read Five Days in June, you may wonder if it does, either.