Mary Marckx (Pre's college girlfriend)

"Nah.  I'm not drunk," he answered swaying a little.
One of the onlookers stepped forward laughing, "Nah, he's not drunk.  But he does have his jacket on inside out."
"I do?"  Steve looked down at himself confused.
"I do!"
He removed his jacket, turned it inside out and put it back on.  "Now, iz okay."
Everyone laughed and Steve with them.
"... now, you DO have it on inside out,"  I whispered. ... ["Pre Desitiny" by Mary Marckx]

A picture from Mary's photo album. [more pictures from her album]

"No, no."  I was a little embarrassed.
I wondered who would pay for the shoes.  This shop didn't look so wealthy that it could give out shoes willy-nilly to any girl some guy on the track team brought in. 
"Are you sure this is okay?"  I whispered.
"Sure.  I'm in here all the time."
"With a different girl every week, right?"  I was chuckling now.
He recovered fast.  "No, just for myself."  He looked directly at me with that smug smile I was beginning to know well. 
"I go through a lot of shoes."  ... ["Pre Desitiny" by Mary Marckx]

His braggadocia seemed a direct challenge.  I jumped up to meet his eye. 
"You can do anything?  Really?"
"Anything," he answered with such supreme confidence one had to wonder where this little, hick kid from the Boondocks got his bravado.
"Can you fly a plane?" I shot back at him.
All challenges vanquished with ease.  He obviously had played this scene may times. 
"If I wanted to fly a plane, I could."
"Right," I said waiting for his next move.
"I could," he tossed the phrase out, as though without thought.  "All I'd do is read everything there is about it, get every book.  Maybe get the best to teach me how.  Then I'd take off."  His hand jutted out suddenly like a Sieg Heil. ... ["Pre Desitiny" by Mary Marckx]

Robert Towne (director and co-writer ... Oscar winner for the movie China Town) gives instruction to Monica Potter on the set.  [Monica in Con Air] 

There was some tremendous talent involved in making this movie: 

• 4 Oscar winners  Robert Towne,  Conrad Hall,  Jonathon Sanger, and Clare Simpson 

• Familiar names and award winners  Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner, and Donald Sutherland

• 3-time Oscar nominee William J. Creber.

Mary wrote a book that has never been published.

Some of the scenes in the movie were based on the book and Monica Potter used the book to understand the relationship between the two of them. 

Below is the prologue from the book which will never go into print. 

I told Mary that people send emails to inquire about the book or messages that they'd like forwarded. 

Mary responded: "As far as the website and forwarding e-mail,  I would prefer it if you ignored these requests.  I no longer use my old telephone number for the very reason that I really don't want to be contacted by people asking about Steve.   I've moved on.  I've got plenty going on in my life right now."

Prologue   

Memories come and go like the mists of time, like the ghost of a thought, like the ghost in this story.  In this ghost story, however, there are no mansions on dark nights, no vapors in attics, nor glowing-eyed demons peering from black corners.  Yet, there are as many moments of mystery as the Gothic tales of the past.

This is the story of a famous young man, an athlete whose influence went far beyond his physical prowess.  This book is a compilation of my memories of this man, Steve Prefontaine, who was for a number of years, my boyfriend, my best friend.  While writing this book, I remembered some things about him as vividly as though they had just occurred, rather than 20 years ago.  I remembered each exact word of things we said to each other.  I remembered every particular of some places we visited and what we did there.  Sometimes, however I couldn't recall both communications and scenes in complete detail.  In those situations, I took liberties and combined places and conversations.  I did remain as true to the spirit of these events as I possibly could.

Although this is a love story, there will be no fairy tale ending.  This story begins and ends in death.  It is about the contracts we make with other humans, before, during and after life.  These are the bonds that are too strong even for life to break.  These are the promises that are not forgotten even in death.  This story is about my search for understanding of what these promises entail, how to live with and fulfill them.     I am not an expert on the paranormal, neither am I psychic in any sense more than each of us are about ourselves and those we love.  I had a lot of help in my search for the reason of my haunting by Steve, as well as the meaning of my life.  If you are embarking on a similar quest, I recommend that you look in the bibliography listed in the back of this book for assistance.

While I make no claims to know for certain what happens in the afterlife, I am certain that this book is true -- my truth.  For everyone has their own truths, especially about how we see other people, even the people we will love until the end of eternity.

--- Mary E. Marckx