An Introduction: Flo Higgins, Venus Rising

When I had graduated college and went for my first job as a newspaper reporter, I ended up in the office of Flo Higgins, trying to convince her that I was the perfect person to assiduously cover the Planning Board, the Sewerage Authority and the cops in a little New Jersey town. She didn't quite think so; I convinced her to hire me anyway.

Flo had, by that point, long established herself as a phenomenon, having edited the Echoes-Sentinel for 26 years, playing hardball with local politicos and putting out one of the best no-bullshit local newspapers I've ever come across. She was also the Flo Higgins of Aquarius Rising Books in Rumson, N.J. -- in her other (simultaneous) incarnation as a professional astrologer, the first I'd ever known. Most of our readers, of course, had no clue; her weekly horoscope ran somewhere else besides the Echoes; but inside the company, we were kept fully apprised of the stellar situation.

I still remember the distinct sound of her heels tapping across the floor, the little warning tremors vibrating through our ancient office as she declared, "Saturn's square the sun. Saturn's square the sun. That means get to work." And she could send ripples of terror through the entire newspaper chain with her warnings about Mercury going retrograde next week. Even orthodox Methodists would be backing up their computer files twice.

Flo finally retired from newspapering (resigned, actually, or "went out for a soda," in company lingo) the year I was there; her years of threats had finally come to reality. At her retirement dinner, my friends and I distributed a parody called the Echoes-Echoes. On page one, the weather report read, "High pressure system moving out to sea." And in the lead article, Flo storms out of the office, jumps in her gray Camaro, and declares: "I'm outta here, just like I predicted!" before burning a few donuts on the frontlawn and peeling out.

Well, it's been 12 years(!) since Flo went out for a soda, and now, having mellowed some and discovering the vibes our girlfriend Venus, she is both loving life, and earning a reputation, as an fine artist. I've not seen her work in person; people tell me it's excellent. She still does readings, still owns Aquarius Rising Books (she is Leo rising, by the way), and, since I love her so much, I wanted to give my readers a look at her work, though not without a proper introduction. So, without further ado, here's your link to www.FloHiggins.com.

-- Eric Francis
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