On Quora, I read about this amazing coincidence. Be warned, it is a bit grisly:
In the year 1833, Edgar Allan Poe wrote his only full length novel 'The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket' which described three starving shipwrecked sailors who only survive by eating the cabin boy, named "Richard Parker".
51 years later i.e. 1884, Three shipwrecked sailors were actually rescued. They had only survived by eating the cabin boy. The name of the unfortunate cabin boy was Richard Parker.
More here:
http://m.mentalfloss.com/article.php?id=30093
Some wonder if Poe was being prescient in his opium induced visions. Some say that Richard Parker was a common name at that time. Any which way, the coincidence is remarkable.
Reading about this set me off on a train of thought on fiction & the sea. So here is a maritime fiction quiz for the family- Guess the book from the quote:
1. "
For thirty years," he said, "I've sailed the seas and seen good and bad, better and worse, fair weather and foul, provisions running out, knives going, and what not. Well, now I tell you, I never seen good come o' goodness yet. Him as strikes first is my fancy; dead men don't bite; them's my views—amen, so be it."
2. "Consider the subtleness of the sea; how its most dreaded creatures glide under water, unapparent for the most part, and treacherously hidden beneath the loveliest tints of azure..... Consider all this; and then turn to this green, gentle , and most docile earth; consider them both, the sea and the land; and do you not find a strange analogy to something in yourself?"
3. "I mean, gentlemen, that according to your calculations we are now standing inside Westminster Abbey!"
4. "It may look like boasting --but what I tell you is truth --I began to reflect how magnificent a thing it was to die in such a manner, and how foolish it was in me to think of so paltry a consideration as my own individual life, in view of so wonderful a manifestation of God's power. I do believe that I blushed with shame when this idea crossed my mind. After a little while I became possessed with the keenest curiosity about the whirl itself. I positively felt a wish to explore its depths, even at the sacrifice I was going to make; and my principal grief was that I should never be able to tell my old companions on shore about the mysteries I should see. These, no doubt, were singular fancies to occupy a man's mind in such extremity --and I have often thought since, that the revolutions of the boat around the pool might have rendered me a little light-headed."
(Since that is a bit of a tough one...a couple of clues: 1) The man who wrote this classic short story was the man who started me on this thread 2) key words bolded above will help, assuming you have read this work)
5. “The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence. It is nothing but love and emotion; it is the Living Infinite. ”
(Clue: An Indian prince was the protagonist of this book, and an adventurous fish was named after him in another work of fiction much later)
And finally, full circle to where I started, with Richard Parker
6.
I wish I had said, "Richard Parker, it's over. We have survived. Can you believe it? I owe you more gratitude than I can express I couldn't have done it without you. I would like to say it formally: Richard Parker, thank you. Thank you for saving my life. And now go where you must. You have known the confined freedom of a zoo most of your life; now you will know the free confinement of a jungle. I wish you all the best with it. Watch out for Man. He is not your friend. But I hope you will remember me as a friend. I will never forget you , that is certain. You will always be with me, in my heart. What is that hiss? Ah, our boat has touched sand. So farewell, Richard Parker, farewell. God be with you.”
Good luck and smooth sailing!