All Comments on 'I was Gonna Learn to Fly'

This story is an excellent example of the old saying, "The best revenge is living a good life."

That was a great story! More please.

Enough said.

That was a wonderful story.

Carl's life was so sad and it was tragic the way Sue whored herself out for a career that went nowhere. I liked Lori much more though and I was glad it worked out for her and Harry.

Very good story. 5*****

There was a lot there and it was far from the usual story line we get here. Very nice! And he married well!

Almost a romance. Wish I knew more of Sue and hopefully her miserable life.

and the mom lied, she just didn't her daughter would continue to be a slut

Most folks would want an breakdown of what happened to Sue in detail. I'm of the group that feels he moved on, met a wonderful woman and left Sue where she belonged, in his past.

Well done.

Love the story and the tie in to Taxi, great song. Have you considered writing more stories expanding on song lyrics?? I would love to read more like this one.

Of course this story is excellent. One look at the name in the author spot guarantees that.

5 stars.

Thank you.

Great story.

I am a fan of Harry Chapins’ song, and the memories it evokes. You managed to hang an entire life from it, very well done!

Tu7M28

I felt invested in the characters and the story. I always enjoy your stories. Many of the other authors write very well and I like many of their writings but your stories are consistently excellent. Thank you and thanks to all the authors here.

Great read, something I always expect when I start one of your stories. Thank You.

How Harry has fared in this story! Much brighter than the song.

The concept is great but Taxi kind of states everything in the song. I dont generally like backstories. The fact that it was more than half the story was kind of frustrating but i guess its important because of the Taxi inspiration.

I was glad for Harry and Lori at the end. That part was nice. I just found myself wanting to just get there.

Hello,

Good as usual, those were not tears, I was cutting onions when i was reading this.........................

my only critique was I really wanted Harry & Sue to have a meeting or some such, i guess what I am saying I wanted a bit more resolution and if truth be told a little cursing out for her too, by Harry.

Even though you had to change it a bit, I could hear the tune playing in the background.

I wonder if you’re from the south. Your use of the word “peaked”, pronounced “peek -ed” by old timers when I was young was a pronunciation I only heard in the South. Thanks for your well told story.

Loved this one.

I grew up with Harry Chapin. I appreciated the story!

Great story!

Another beautiful story.

Hooked

Nice story but... it felt somehow unfinished.

This was a very deft handling of a complex plot - which didn't end as I expected. Took me by surprise. I really enjoyed the read.

Thank you, sir

Enjoyed the story and characters. Could have been in Romance as well.

On pet peeve, no local ever uses the term Frisco, believe me. It's SF or The City.

Other than that, thanks so much.

I will never be able to listen to that song again without thinking of this story. I wonder if you will write the next have of the story, isn't there a companion song to it?

A native (and they were both natives) of the Bay Area would NEVER say Frisco. It’s always The City. But I’ve been admonished many times when I first moved there “Oh God, it’s NOT FRISCO!!!”

Yeah, I know anyone who lives even near other large metropolitan centers call it The City.

So Sue and hubby, a Hollywood insider, live in the Bay Area? That’s rare.

5-stars

Great story with wonderful characters and a lovely resolution :)

Great story!! I think Harry would approve. Now how 'bout a "Sequel"? maybe one about a week he spent in watertown, NY. (I think) one day. On a side note, I wonder about naming the kids Zach and Sandy?

Another great story. 5 as always.

Damn , You brought back some OLD memories ! Five Stars ! I would Scream for more but that's the end of the song . Thanks for the memories !

With more than a touch of sadness. It is good that unlike the song Harry got to do his dream job. Sue on the other hand ended up selling out her dream, she sold her soul to the devil and paid the price.

As a devoted Chapin fan...yeah! :-)

No one in the bay area ever calls San Francisco "Cisco". It is considered very gauche. The preferred reference is "the city". This generally applies though the west.

But other than that and your attempt to used every line in the song more than once {grin}, it was a great story.

I especially liked Harry resuming as a cab driver as a hobby and not a failed pilot as the song implies.

PS: Harry Chapin, may he RIP, is one of my favorite composer/writer/performers.

A sad, sweet story. Thank you for sharing it.

Extremely well done as usual LTW! Loving someone who desires and seeks Fame is always a challenge. So many more opportunities for the relationship to fail. Thanks again for this wonderful tale!

BTW hadn't listened to Chapin's Taxi in awhile, thanks for the trip down memory lane!

Killian

My daddy used to love that song and sing it for us growing up. I always felt a lot of melancholy for the taxi driver because it seemed like he never got his dream and while she had hers, it seemed totally hollow.

"And she walked away in silence

It's strange, how you never know

But we'd both gotten what we'd asked for

Such a long, long time ago.

You see, she was gonna be an actress

And I was gonna learn to fly

She took off to find the footlights

I took off for the sky.

And here, she's acting happy

Inside her handsome home

And me, I'm flying in my taxi

Taking tips, and getting stoned."

(Lyrics by Harry Chapin)

I love that the end of your story shows them both getting what they asked for, but he is the only one that ended up finding happiness.

It left me with a smile.

Paul in Oklahoma

Seems to me that the Harry Chapin song meant for Loving Wives is..."I want to learn a love song"

Excellent story, characters, start, story build and finale. The quality shone through all of this superb tale. Thank you very much 5*

A compelling 'life well lived' romance. Good for Lori and Harry, and I must confess to a couple of tears for Lisa and Carl. Many thanks. Your stories are consistently always among the very best online.

As the author noted the song is a touch melancholy.

This put a nice positve spin with a great story line and ending.

A world recognized singer song writer, his most recognized ballad and the talent of erotic writing star laptopwriter. 10* from me.

An anon recommended "I wanna learn a love song" as the best Chapin song for the Loving Wives catergory.

I'm thinking that for this Highway entry the perfect Chapin song would be "30,000 pounds of bananas"

It was a sad song but you gave the story a happy ending for Harry. Loved it.

"I heard Sue crying as I left." - Why the fuck do they always cry? If they care enough to cry, they should care enough not to cheat. And this wasn't just a one-night stand or a "casting couch" situation, not with "Hons" and "Babes" being tossed around.

"At times I wondered how Sue was doing." - If she was doing THAT well he couldn't help but know how she was doing.

While it's cool that he was driving the cab and saw Sue, why couldn't he have kept flying but with no overnight trips?

I'm glad the ending changed from the song. The song said all that needed to be said, not changing it would have been a waste.

I don't agree with those who felt it seemed unfinished.

At first I wondered if the incident DID cost him his license, and that's why he was back driving a cab.

When Sue talked about meeting for coffee, I would have said something like, "I don't think so, my wife wouldn't approve," let her know that HE had a happy life. If he could have let her know how he got his dream of flying, that would have been good, too.

After reading your song choice I went back in time to when I first heard Taxi and thought, you were going to have a tough time coming close to the emotions of the song, but boy was I wrong. Easily one of the best stories I've ever read. You got shortchanged with a "5". Thanks for a great read and an even better distraction with all that's going on.

P.S. I've re-listened to the song several times as I'm sure I'll re-read your story again and again.

A thoroughly absorbing story, from start to finish. I would have been happy to read a conversation between Harry and Sue, to hear more of her side about what happened to her, but I can understand your keeping it simple as you did. A great job!

Thanks, ohio

The best story I've read in months. It's fill with up's and down's joy and sadness, ends with love that has filled the void left by disappointment. You're one of my favorite writer's and this story is a perfect example.

Great story. I had my doubts about whether or not to read it after taking a look at the lyrics to the song: Who wants a dismal story on top of everything else happening in the world, right? Delighted to find you satisfied the lyrics AND provided a happy ending. Well done. Thanks for posting. 5 stars.

Great story, well written. Great read!

A very impressive story! Excellent told! The characters were captivating and I was able to put myself into some scenes! Thank you!

An absolute five star story. A conversation between Harry and Sue might have been nice, but maybe there will be a sequel or someone else will do a follow up.

WOW!!!

Made one think while reading. What-is scenarios can bring back a flood of memories and long lost fantasies.

This was a very good read.

Totally awesome. Would make a terrific movie.

With your writing skills, you could easily write a sequel going into Sue's STORY. I think there's lots of potential for another good one.

Once again...Great job. Wish I could give this one 10 stars.

That was a very nice romance! I enjoyed it a great deal! Keep posting new stories, for all of your fans.

Wow, this one might be your best! Very impressive 5 star effort! *****

The original song is much more melancholy and Chapin added a sequel to the original with Harry and Sue meeting again 10 years later.

This is a live version of both parts of the song together. It runs about 14 minutes.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aeMX1JfqKuc

As a prior commenter said, LTW did a good job of using the song as a springboard rather than trying to "story-atize" the song.

Well done, and Thanks

One of the best interpretations of Taxi I've read in a long time. I found myself trying to sing the song though. Very well done please do more based like this.

You always get a good read from this author.

Being the stickler that the nuns mandated, I can only point out that your "fairs" are usually spelled "fares". (as if I'm the only nitpicker here - I'm still proofreading JKRowling for goodness sake)

..Sad the way things turned out. She could have been in Lori's place as the rich, retired, beautiful wife. She never knew what fortunes came to Harry.

So went the famous ballad of Harry Chapin.

Thank you, again.

5*****

This is a very enjoyable and very well written story with believable characters. I appreciated your inventive use of Chapin’s Taxi as the backdrop for this engrossing tale! You are an excellent writer. Thank you!

Excellent story inspired by an excellent song.

Thank you for posting.

By the way, your happy ending, was much more appealing to me than Chapin's ending.

If you were ever a Harry Chapin fan, you truly know the meaning of that line - lol

With Taxi being one of my favorite Chapin tunes, I recognized the title of your story pretty quick and wondered if there was going to be a significance between yours and Harry's. After the first paragraph, I had no doubt.

Loved your story - thanks for the great read!!

A nice job with one of my favorite songs of all time. Although I have mixed feelings about your artistic license, Harry was no more successful with his dreams than Sue was in the song. I'm also a little surprised that we didn't get a little more of Sue"s story. However, all in all, I enjoyed this. Thank you.

of my favorite songs from one of my favorite performers. Framed and played out wonderfully. Thank You for such a great story.

This is one of my 2 or three “go to” songs as soon as I pick up a guitar. It’s easy to pick up a guitar in my house, as there are between one and five in every room, and only one in the house that lives in a case...so I play the song a lot.

Thanks so much for putting it into story form, and so very well. Now every time I play it, your Harry and Sue, as well as your other characters, will be in mind. Bravo!

Great story, as always, LTW. Well written and entertaining.

Wonderful story, but I felt bad about Carl.

Love Chapin, love your tribute story to his "Taxi". Very well done, and thank you for it.

Certainly not the story. Just looking at the title brought back memories of watching Harry perform.

I agree with the others, one of the best I've read.

I can still remember where I was the day he died. It's a pity his life was cut short. Just the thought of all the untold stories.

If i recall, the "Harry, it sucks" was said by his brother Tom in the live version of 30000 Pounds of Bananas.

Pilots don't get licenses. They are issued Airman's Certificates.

Can't find much better than this anywhere. Thanks for the read, I really enjoyed it.

is it just me, or is there an issue with voting when using the beta version? I give you 5 stars

I always wondered why no one ever wrote a story about "Taxi". And now someone finally did and boy did he write a fantastic story. As I read your story I could Harry singing the song. Thank You for a great story about a great topic. Now every time I hear that song, I will think about your story.

According to the FAA, License or certificate is acceptable. I prefer "License." Thanks for your input.

Become a Pilot - faa.gov › pilots › become

Mar 19, 2013 - There are several different types of pilot's licenses, from student pilot all the way up to airline transport pilot. The information below describes the ...

‎Pilot Certificates & Records · ‎Student Pilot's Certificate · ‎Pilot Training · ‎Sport Pilot

This brought back some distant memories of my time in Nam and Subic where we could copy to cassette his long songs that eluded the radio; I had to play his song while reading this story. Only thing missing in the story was Harry getting stoned, ha ha.

This was a 6* tribute to Harry that was done masterfully. Many of the lines I found my self remembering as music in my mind. Well done, hooyah, salute!

Looking forward to your 30,000 pounds of mashed banana story?!?

story is great song is shite

Full marks.

Maybe not quite what Harry Chapin meant

in his song "Taxi".

But very well done anyway.

A respectful salute to the poet.

Kudos laptopwriter!

Top ratings from me.

I met Harry Chapin in 1977, he performed at my college and had a dressing room in my old dorm, just across from my fiance's room.

He seemed a nice guy, rather quiet for a star.

I had recently graduated, we were married a few months later, she died three years later.

And as a pilot, I have to correct you...on page 4 you have Harry push the yoke forward to get the nose up, no...to get the nose up you pull the yoke towards you.

You got most of the aviation stuff right, but they don't call the baggage compartment the "boot"...that's the trunk of an English car.

You were right to have them fly a Cessna 310 and Golden Eagle (aka Cessna 421) both are correct for the time period.

Decent story,though I would have liked to learn more about what happened to Sue.

With no interaction between Harry and Sue after the breakup, there seems to be no point to the story.

I've always admired your work, and I think this is one of your best. A life well-lived, with all the triumph and tragedy appertaining thereunto.

GA

Under normal circumstances, yes, you're correct that you would pull back on the yoke to get the nose up, but I don't think you read that section very well.

Due to the wake-turbulence from the jet, he was in a 180 deg roll. He was flying inverted, in which case he would have to push the yoke forward to get the nose up.

If you notice, as soon as the plane was upright again, he pulled back on the yoke to bring the nose up and climbed above the vortex.

if so, then their respective spouses (Harry's beloved Lori and Sue's philandering Derek) are supporting characters.

While the story didn't say much about Sue or what her acting and the pursuit of fame have done to her, it is reasonable to assumed her life didn't exactly turn out to be what she had expected. Once the giddiness of being on the arms of some important Hollywood bid shot/medium shot was over, there just seemed to be nothing but living from one badly choreographed day, or event, in Hollywood to another... until she hailed that cab rid with Harry...

Turned out, both had forgotten the other, as they went on with their own respective lives, with Harry --- having met with and being taken in as a son to Carl (who never got over his Lisa) --- ending up with a really good life.... with Lori being his anchor and compass....

Sue, on the other hand, ended up with a philandering older guy not mostly living off of his little credits ---- whatever they were ---- from decades in the past... She's now too old to start a family, too old to get good parts, and likely having not earned enough money to be totally independent.... so she's hanging on to Derek's little coat tail until he decides to move on with the next 20 something Hollywood hopeful girl...

What was going through Sue’s mind and what her parents thought. She want a big star and how she felt about seeing her x and her reaction when he dropped her off

Befitting of the song. Sue 's story is left vague enough to see she followed her path, with a few exceptions, and pursued what she wanted. It cost her his love. Very melancholy story , even if our hero's life has a very happy ending.

But there was appropriate interaction btw Harry and Sue. She betrayed him, he walked away with his integrity intact. His reaction was the best possible: a life well lived. She got the shit life she traded for. Good storyline, well written.

detroitdave

A very nice riff off Chapin's classic, and I like the direction you took, giving the protagonist redemption and happiness as opposed to the depressed take of the song about Harry's lost true love. It's very hard and sad to think that the song's now close to fifty years old, and that Chapin has been gone as long as he lived. One of the peak experiences of my youth was getting to sing onstage with him (on "Circle") at one of the benefit concerts he did not long before his tragic death.

On the way to my father in law's funeral this past weekend, my wife and I were listening to The Bridge on satellite. They played a couple of Harry 's songs and we both mentioned how much we both wanted to hear Taxi. We didn't hear it on either leg of our trip, but to find your story today was amazing. I think you captured it perfectly and it ended perfectly. I read this after a couple days of the garbage that passes for stories now, and I wonder why those authors aren't ashamed to even post. LTW , this was more than worth reading. Just an instant classic.

Great story!

I have always enjoyed your stories. Well thought out and well written. A life’s story with so many people and their life decisions and how they affected others. Thanks for sharing. Top marks from me.

A lot of left turns. Every time I thought I knew where the story was going it changed. I really like a story that keeps pulling you in. It was quite emotional towards the end as Carl joined his Lisa. A 5 Star Rating and a hearty thank you.

Really lovely characters, loved the build up to the heartwarming finish.

Great story and poignant interpretation of the song. For some reason I had always thought that Sue ended up as a call girl/escort. She's alone for the fare. Well dressed and out on a terribly rainy night.

Taking a story we thought we knew and turning it to something much more is a talent, 5 stars.

My wife and I had only been married a few weeks when Adam, a photographer moved into the cul-de-sac we lived in. My job required travel often. She and Adam became quick friends. My wife, without telling me, accepted his proposal to model swimsuits, towels, shorts and lingerie. She was pleased that she made money on her own. He told her she could make even more if she were willing to model nude. I should point out at this time that my wife closely resembled a young Goldie Hawn at the time. She agreed to a nude photo shoot...only a male model was brought in to model in a simulated sex photo layout...that by mutual agreement turned into actual sex. And when she finally told me, thus ended our marriage.