When I ponder about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s fate, I cannot help, but to think about Georges Bizet, a 19th-century French composer. They both died at young age, without being able to enjoy the real fruits of their fame.

Bizet, died from a heart related ailment. While, Basquiat, an American graffiti artist, who gradually turned into a neo-expressionist painter, passed away from drug overdose at the age of twenty-eight in the eighties. When Jean-Michele Basquiat died, he was beginning to gain fame, and today, his works sell for millions of dollars. Recently, one of his paintings went for $110.5 million. Georges Bizet’s story, on the other hand, is a bit different from that of Basquiat’s. When he died at the age of twenty-although an accomplished musician, he was not very famous.

When Bizet completed composing his Opera Carmen and performed it for the first time, the following morning, the Parisian critics slammed it mercilessly. They claimed the opera to be unprofessional and shockingly vulgar.

Then, when he died, some friendly musicians decided to honor him by performing his Opera Carmen. Ironically, the next morning, the same critics, that had condemned his work, praised it and called Bizet a genius. Unfortunately, it was too late. The unfortunate composer was not around to feel avenged.

Bizet’s sad life and destiny had always distressed me. So, one sunny day, after a miserable week of pouring rain and gloomy weather, as I stood by the window looking out at the lush, green fields beyond our deck, suddenly, an idea came to my mind. In other words, a story started rolling in front of my eyes like a movie. I immediately, sat down and jotted down some points about Georges Bizet’s life in Heaven – which I liked to call, ‘Planet Heaven.’ Thus, I immediately began writing my new book.

In this fantasy novel, called, “Looking For Georges Bizet on Planet Heaven,” I decided to have my protagonist, Martha, go around Planet Heaven after she dies, and look for Georges Bizet. She does so accompanied by her beloved uncle and favorite pet, a German shepherd, called, Reno. Meanwhile, as she begins searching for her favorite musician, Georges Bizet, Martha and her companions encounter some scary situations before they succeed. Then, when Martha finally finds Bizet, she makes him aware of the fact that after his death, he has become very famous on Earth, and so on…

Now, having read about Jean-Michel Basquiat’s great fame after his death, I am tempted to write a sequel to my book and name it “Looking for Jean-Michele Basquiat on Planet Heaven.” What’s more, I have another idea. I think when I, myself land on Planet Heaven; I could borrow some money from a heavenly bank to organize a club for the artists with the same faith as Jean-Michel Basquiat’s and Georges Bizet’s! Then, I could go around, advertising their names, artworks, and compositions all over Planet Heaven, and help them get the appropriate fame and appreciation they really deserve.