Cynthia Riggs: The Case of the Curious Codes

Summary

The Moth Podcast Summary: "Cynthia Riggs: The Case of the Curious Codes"

Episode Information

• Title: Cynthia Riggs: The Case of the Curious Codes
• Host/Author: The Moth
• Release Date: July 16, 2013

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Introduction to Cynthia Riggs

In this heartfelt and intriguing episode of The Moth, Cynthia Riggs shares her extraordinary journey from personal loss to a serendipitous romance, all sparked by a mysterious package filled with cryptograms. Her story seamlessly blends elements of mystery, love, and personal growth, offering listeners a captivating narrative that underscores the unexpected ways life can unfold.

Background and Early Life

Cynthia begins by grounding herself in her roots, mentioning her deep connection to Martha's Vineyard. She states:

“I was born on Martha's Vineyard and coming here tonight, I got lost. I had to ask someone where Union Chapel is.” [03:19]

Her heritage is rich, being descended from the Athernes and the Mayhews, two of the island’s settling families. Before delving into her storytelling career, Cynthia spent years working as a boat captain, a role that immersed her in the maritime world she so cherishes.

After her mother, Dionys Coffin Riggs—a poet—passed away at nearly 99, Cynthia found herself at a crossroads. A guest at her mother's bed and breakfast suggested she pursue further education, leading her to enroll in a creative writing program. This pivotal decision marked the beginning of her successful career as a mystery novelist:

“My first book was published when I was 70. I love this audience. There's hope for all of you.” [03:19]

The Mysterious Package

Approximately six months before the events that unfold, Cynthia received a perplexing package from a man she had vaguely remembered from her past. The package contained:

• An archival envelope with yellowed paper towels covered in cryptograms.
• A contemporary cryptogram note.

Confused by the contents, Cynthia reflects:

“I had no idea what this was all about.” [00:00]

Determined to decipher the messages, she recalls her background in cryptography, introduced by her father, an army veteran. Her intrigue is heightened by memories from her college days when she interacted with an elderly coworker, Howie, who defended her against practical jokes involving cryptograms.

Decoding the Cryptograms

Cynthia’s investigation begins with identifying the sender. The return address was a set of latitude and longitude coordinates, which pointed to a location near Baja California. She meticulously traced Howie’s whereabouts, considering his profession as a dentist and his potential locations, from cruise ships to private yachts.

Despite initial dead ends, such as discovering Howie was a public health dentist in California, Cynthia's persistence paid off when she located his address through the California Dental Association. She decided to reach out with a non-committal note, stating:

“I just got that packet that you sent, and I decoded the message.” [03:19]

Correspondence and Shared Loss

Upon sending the letter, Cynthia received a warm postcard response:

“Nicer than nice to hear from you.” [00:00]

This exchange marked the beginning of a profound connection. To bridge their shared grief—both having lost a child around the same age—Cynthia sent Howie a poetry book by her late daughter. Howie reciprocated by sharing his own loss, revealing that his son had died similarly. This mutual sorrow created a deep bond between them.

Their correspondence revealed more coincidences, such as both being involved in geology-related work. Howie sent Cynthia manganese nodules from the Marianas Trench, a rare mineral found in deep-sea environments, which fascinated Cynthia due to her own Antarctic research cruises.

Building Connection Through Shared Experiences

Their interactions grew richer as they exchanged personal items that symbolized their connection:

• Seed Packages: Reflecting their names and interests, Howie sent Cynthia seven seed packages, including hollyhocks (“H for Howie”) and catnip (“C for Cynthia”).

• Music: Howie shared a CD of a piece titled "Cactus on Mars," composed by his son, intertwining their creative and scientific passions.

Cynthia notes the evolution of their relationship, emphasizing the emotional support and sense of self-worth Howie provided:

“He gave me back a sense of great self-worth. And with that, I hope you all can find a Howie or his equivalent.” [03:19]

The Decision to Meet

Encouraged by her writing group, referred to as the "Wednesday writers," Cynthia decided to take the significant step of meeting Howie in person. Despite her initial reservations due to past abusive relationships and the age difference between them (she being 81 and Howie 90), the support from her group empowered her to embrace this new chapter.

With a ticket to California in hand, Cynthia expresses both excitement and apprehension about meeting Howie, questioning whether he still remembers her as the young woman from their college days.

Impact and Conclusion

Cynthia’s story culminates in her decision to meet Howie, symbolizing the rekindling of a long-lost connection and the healing power of shared experiences. Her narrative not only highlights the mysteries that life can present but also the profound relationships that can emerge from unexpected circumstances.

“This is wonderful.” [03:19]

Through her journey, Cynthia underscores themes of resilience, the enduring nature of human connections, and the beautiful complexities of life's unfolding paths.

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Notable Quotes with Attribution and Timestamps

• Cynthia Riggs [03:19]: “I was born on Martha's Vineyard and coming here tonight, I got lost. I had to ask someone where Union Chapel is.”

• Cynthia Riggs [03:19]: “My first book was published when I was 70. I love this audience. There's hope for all of you.”

• Cynthia Riggs [03:19]: “He gave me back a sense of great self-worth. And with that, I hope you all can find a Howie or his equivalent.”

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Conclusion

Cynthia Riggs' story on The Moth is a testament to the unexpected twists life can take and the meaningful connections that can arise from them. Her detailed recounting of decoding cryptograms, navigating personal loss, and ultimately finding love serves as an inspiring narrative of hope, perseverance, and the enduring human spirit.

For listeners who have yet to experience this episode, Cynthia's tale offers a compelling blend of mystery and heartwarming romance, illustrating that it's never too late for new beginnings and profound relationships.

Transcript

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[Dan Kennedy]

Welcome to the Moth Podcast. I'm Dan Kennedy. This podcast is brought to you by stamps.com with your busy schedule, we're sure making trips to the post office is the last thing you have time for. Did you know with [e-mail] you can buy and print official US postage right from your own computer and printer. It's easy and convenient. Plus stamps.com will give you a digital scale. It automatically calculates the exact postage you need for any letter or package. You print the postage directly onto envelopes, labels, or even plain paper. Then just hand your mail to your mail carrier. There's no need for you to go to the post office again again, or even lease one of those expensive postage meters. Right now there's a special offer for listeners of the Moth podcast, a no risk trial plus a $110 bonus offer that includes the digital scale and up to $55 free postage. Don't wait. Go to stamps.com and click on the microphone at the top of the homepage. Then type in moth. That's stamps.com enter moth and if you live in Minnesota, join the Moth at New Belgium Brewery's Tour de Fat in Minneapolis on Saturday, July 27 for your chance to tell a story at the show. Submit your one line pitch via email to tourdefatthemoth.org and check themoth.org for event details. Dressing freaky and riding bikes and bands and beer are things you like the Most fun fundraiser, the 35 new Bell Jump Back in town. The story you're about to hear by Cynthia Riggs was told live in Martha's Vineyard last summer. I mentioned on another episode that we're going to be back in Martha's Vineyard actually this summer. We're going to do a show Aug. 3. For ticket information and all the details about that show, you can go to our site, the moth.org but today we have a great story, so here's Cynthia Riggs.

[Cynthia Riggs]

Well, I was born on Martha's Vineyard and coming here tonight, I got lost. I had to ask someone where Union Chapel is. I come from a long line of Vineyarders and I'm descended from both the settling families, both the Athernes and the Mayhews. Well, I spent many years off island working as a boat captain and then I returned to the Vineyard and I came to live with my mother who lived in West Tisbury, Dionys Coffin Riggs, a poet. She and I opened a bed and breakfast catering to poets and writers. And that was kind of where I came from after her death, when she was almost 99. I think some of you probably knew my mother after her death. I was kind of at loose ends and a bed and breakfast guest suggested that I go back to school and get a degree in creative writing. So I filled out an application form and they accepted me. And somebody told me I ought to write murder mysteries. And two years later, my first murder mystery was published by St. Martin's Press. I've now had 10 published and the 11th, I think is on Kindle, and I'm working on the 12th right now. Well, my first book was published when I was 70. I love this audience. There's hope for all of you. Well, about six months ago, a mystery came into my life that was something that was totally unexpected. I had thought about a guy that I'd met many years before. His name just sort of popped into my mind. And so I looked him up on Google and I couldn't find him, so I sort of forgot about it. Well, two weeks later I got a package from him. Now, it was his name and when I googled it, I spelled it wrong, but the return address was a latitude and longitude. I opened the package and inside was an archival envelope that had a whole bunch of old dried up, yellowed paper towels in it. And the paper towels were all covered with scrawled out cryptograms. Also in this package there was a little note, also with a more modern cryptogram. Well, I had no idea what this was all about. So I looked at some of the messages on these paper towels and it all came back to me when I was 18 years old. I was a marine geology major at a college in Ohio. Of course, my college managed to find me a college job lasting for four months in San Diego working for Scripps Oceanographic Institution sorting plankton as a research project. Now I was just thrilled. I'd never been out west before. I was working in a real laboratory. I was 18 and I was. Most 18 year olds are clueless. I was particularly clueless. Now my co workers were a bunch of guys who had been working sorting plankton for much too long. They were bored and if you could imagine it, they were rather bright. So they came up with some wonderful practical jokes. I guess you can call it like nailing my lab drawers shut. And I had no idea how to handle this. All these little practical jokes that were playing or talking in codes that I didn't understand. But there was one guy in the lab, he was an elderly man, he was 28. He started defending me against my tormentors. So I started. My dad had been in the army and he'd introduced me to cryptograms. So I just loved the idea of these secret messages. So I wrote these secret messages as cryptograms to Howie on these paper towels. Now he kept them for 62 years. Well, I have a group of young women in my Wednesday writers group. And I said to them, what do you think of all this? And they said, they're all young women. They all said, you've got to get in touch with this guy. You just have to. This is wonderful. And so I thought about it and I thought, well, how am I going to get in touch with him? This was latitude and longitude. So I googled it. I found that there was sort of a circle right around the. Right around Baja California, the coast. Now I knew that Howie had a dental degree, so that was kind of a clue. I figured, okay, there was a golf resort somewhere within that latitude and longitude. So I called this golf resort on their toll free number and I said, was there a doctor a registered there? No, there wasn't. Then I figured, okay, that circle could include the coast of Baja California. So I figured, aha, he's on a cruise ship. So I found a cruise ship tracking site on Google. This is all true. There were no cruise ships in the area at that time. So then I was sure I had it. He had a private yacht. He was a retired dentist after all, by the way, I'm sort of diverting from this. But I happened to be writing a book called Bloodroot, which is based on murder in a dentist's office. I figured the captain had come up to Dr. A and said, Dr. A, sir, this is your latitude and longitude. But that was kind of a dead end. The next thing I figured, okay, I'll go to the California Dental Association. And I found him. I found him and I found the address. Now, he'd been a public service, public health dentist for one of the counties in California, which sort of shot the idea of the yacht. So I went back to my Wednesday writers. I have a representative group of Wednesday writers here. And I said, now what? And they said, you've got to get in touch with this guy. You just have to. Well, I figured I could write in maybe a sort of a non committal note. So I did that and I said, well, I just got that packet that you sent, and I decoded the message and that was it. Now, the Wednesday writers, in the meantime, had formed sort of a cheering section. And it was going something like this. This is every woman's fantasy. This man has spent a lifetime loving you and searching for you. Now, you need to know a little something about my background. I wasn't totally off on men, but I was a little uncomfortable because I'd been married for 25 years to a very brilliant but a very abusive husband and married him after we were divorced for 35 years. He stalked me for 20. So I was not comfortable opening any doors to any kind of intimacy. And these paper towels, the things that lead to intimacy. Well, I sent this letter off to what might or might not have been a current address. And by golly, I got a letter back, or it was a postcard back, and it said, nicer than. Nicer. Nicer than nice to hear from you. So I knew I had the address right. The next thing I did was to send him a book of poetry. That I had a daughter who died about five years ago, and this was a book of her poetry. And I sent it to him and he wrote back and he said, I had a son who died the same time your daughter died about the same age. And as you can imagine, this broke down a lot of barriers in a hurry. If you think of the worst thing that can happen to parents is to have a child died and have two of us sort of sharing this painful experience. So we started corresponding and we started having kind of coincidence finding out these coincidences that happened. It wasn't just me writing the blood root, and it wasn't just the kids deaths, but it was the manganese nodules. Yeah. Now, since I'm speaking to a group that is near the oceanographic, probably many of you know what manganese nodules are, but most people don't. They're sort of knobby little lumps of black, gray looking mineral deposits that are found only in the deep sea. A few museums have these manganese nodules and very, very few individuals have manganese nodules. And Howie happened to have one that came from the Marianas Trench, which is the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, and he sent it to me. Well, I just happen to have been on an Antarctic research cruise. I had a small sack full of manganese nodules. I sent him four. I made sure they were smaller than his. The next thing Howie sent me, by the way, at this time, the young woman in the West Chesbury post office got involved in this romance. She would say as she gave me a package, another letter from your boyfriend. The next thing he sent me was a CD of a piece of music that his son had composed called Cactus on Mars. Well, my son in law, who's a geophysicist, was evaluating research proposals for Mars. This has been going on and on and on. Now at this point, the Wednesday writers stepped in again and said, you have to go see this guy. I had no intention of going to see him, but you have no idea what these women are like. You can talk to two of them afterwards. They're representative. So I have a ticket to California on my desk. Now, Howie found out that I'm an avid gardener. So he sent me seven seed packages. Now one was hollyhocks, H for Howie, and one was catnip, C for Cynthia. And in between he had leeks, okra, vinca, eggplant and spinach. This is a real romance. So I'm going out to see him. But now here comes a question. When I appear, is he going to have in his mind this 18 year old that he fell in love with? I mean, I'm 81 now and he's 90. And I asked the Wednesday writers, well, what can you do? And they said, oh, plenty. One of the things that Howie has meant to me, he's actually changed my life. I had been pretty much closed up. But what he did was he gave me some very gentle warmths. He also introduced me to a kind of a calm love that I'd never thought of before. He also introduced me to kind of a sweet passion. You'd be surprised at what you can do in letters and codes, but most of all. The thing that's really affected me a lot is he gave me back a sense of great self worth. And with that I hope you all can find a Howie or his equivalent.

[Dan Kennedy]

Cynthia riggs, author of 11 books in the Martha's Vineyard Mystery Series, has a geology degree from Antioch College, an MFA from Vermont College, and a Coast Guard master's license. I should mention that's just for 110 vessels. We're thrilled to announce that she and Howard Atterby were married in May. Also, the Moth has big news. Cynthia's story is just one of 50 that you can read in the Moth's first book, a collection of Moth stories that we've transcribed and edited. It's coming out on September 3rd and you can pre order it now at Amazon.com barnesandnoble.com, books, a million Apple Ibooks or Indie Next the Moth Podcast is sponsored by LegalZoom. It's time to create your own story. When you start that business you've been dreaming about, LegalZoom can help you ensure your assets are legally protected with LLCs, incorporation and other business filings. They can also help you legally protect your family. LegalZoom has been helping Americans get perfect personalized wills, powers of attorney and living Trusts for over 12 years. Their service was developed by a team of experienced attorneys and LegalZoom takes care of you from start to finish as an introduction to Moth listeners. Now you can get a special discount to thank you for listening to our podcast. If you're a parent or entrepreneur, call or visit legalzoom.com today and see how easy it is to protect your family or launch your business journey. LegalZoom can provide self help services at your specific direction or connect you with an attorney, but they're not a law firm. Go to legalzoom.com for wills starting at $69 or in corporations and LLCs for only $99 and get your special discount by entering Moth in the referral box at checkout. Hey Los Angeles listeners, the Moth is returning to UCLA Live in in Los Angeles on Tuesday, September 10th. Tickets are on sale now at the moth.org Our podcast host, Dan Kennedy is.

[Rosetta Stone Representative]

A writer and performer living in New York and author of the new novel American Spirit. Available now.

[Dan Kennedy]

Thanks to all of you for listening and we hope you have a story worthy week. Podcast audio production by Paul Ruest at the Argo Studios in New York. The Moth Podcast and the Radio Hour are presented by prx, the Public Radio Exchange helping make public radio more [e-mail].