"I am Still Alive, for Christ's Sake"

For millennia writers have employed mistaken identities as a tool to create drama and surprise. This morning I learned that real life tragedy resorts to the same device. The story that follows also shows one more time that the line between comedy and tragedy is often razor sharp.

Weeks After Accident, a Twist of Fate
By CHRISTOPHER MAAG (NYT) CALEDONIA, Mich., June 2 — For five weeks, the VanRyn family had been using a Web log to inform friends and neighbors about their daughter Laura's recovery from injuries suffered in a car accident that killed five people. On Friday, they were planning her memorial service. More...