In October 2020, Rebels managed to come together amidst very sad and surprising news. John Wirebach, a founding member of the group, had passed away suddenly and unexpectedly earlier in the month. We all lost a good colleague and a friend. John was a talented writer, had a scholarly knowledge of literature, and could be depended on as a colorful compatriot in our pursuit of the writing game. He will be sorely missed from what feels like our little writing family. John had been a faithful member of Rebels for some 15 years.
The group commiserated over and mourned his loss. We were due on this night to critique the first 100 pages of John’s current novel project, a crime story set in Bucks County during World War II. It introduced detective Harry Cooper and served as a prequel to his earlier-completed manuscript of Harry’s service in Paris later in the war. All agreed that John may have been doing his best and tightest writing in this latest work, adding even further to the untimely sense of this loss.
While it was difficult to carry on the business of the group at our October meeting, we soldiered on, as John would have wanted us to. We critiqued Dave’s short story, “One Good Word,” an offering reticent of fine southern literature. We encouraged Dave’s plan to use the story as the introductory chapter of his planned novel about an African American faith leader who comes to Philadelphia.
The group also brainstormed on how we might keep John’s writing alive and put some steps into play to preserve it.
Rebel Writers 