bellairsia

Time Capsule: 1979

2009-10-31T01:15:00.023-05:00

It’s hard to believe but thirty years ago The House with a Clock in its Walls made it to television. Six years after John Bellairs' classic story of Lewis Barnavelt was first published, the VideoGems group chose it for inclusion as part of the program, Once Upon a Midnight Scary. Released in 1979, the special featured Vincent Price lounging a random, gloomy mansion and introducing spooky yet entertaining tales that also included Richard Peck's The Ghost Belonged to Me and Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. While the program more-or-less follows the plot of the book, viewers have commented over the years that Lewis (Michael Brick) doesn’t quite match his literary origins, Jonathan (Severn Darden) seems a bit off his rocker, Tarby (Pat Petersen) is dolt, and Mrs. Zimmermann is conspicuously absent. But don't take our word for it, read some reviews (and contribute your own).

Still, thirty years later, this – and the adaptation of The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn – are the only adaptations of John’s books. Maybe Lewis will someday get upon the big screen?

"...in small square letters, were these words: 'Lucky You!'"

2009-10-08T19:57:00.000-05:00

Our friends over at the Museum of Hoaxes recently shared the story of a woman who found “a small envelope in a rocking chair she bought at auction. In the envelope [were] a key and a note giving her directions to where $250 in U.S. gold coins was supposedly buried in a lead chest.”

Turns out she might be the victim of a now-deceased practical joker.

Reminded us of good ol’ Alpheus Winterborn.

2009 Living History Portrayal Walk

2009-10-01T02:00:00.017-05:00

Marshall's Oakridge Cemetery, one of the oldest continuously operated cemeteries in Michigan, is home again this year to the 9th Annual "If These Stones Could Talk..." This Living History Portrayal walking tour will feature actors portraying significant people from Marshall's past at his or her's gravesite. Portrayals this year include Beatrice H. Babbitt (1870-1959), an eccentric, penny-pinching, heiress and world traveler; Winston Schuler (1908-1993), the second family owner of the 100-year-old Schuler’s Restaurant (dubbed the “Consummate Host”); plus a host of others.

Saturday, October 10, 7PM

For more information, including associated costs, please contact the Marshall Chamber of Commerce.

Walter said that last year – in honour of Brad’s book – he had a great idea about soliciting two other “fans” to parade around the cemetery in red robes and carry a piece of wire wrapped with fiery Christmas lights and shaped into the number 3. However he later revealed that because the robe covered his eyes he found himself sopping wet and wandering the banks of the western Kalamazoo River by himself. Better luck this time around...we hope he manages to show up for an appearance.

Promoting Lewis Barnavelt?

2009-09-27T20:47:00.000-05:00

Okay, we don’t know what this is – we aren’t sure we really want to – but it seems to be promoting the Lewis Barnavelt series, albeit the editions published in Brazil. Enjoy?

The Face...at 40

2009-09-22T20:40:00.000-05:00

We would do all Bellairsdom a great disservice if we did not acknowledge that this year is the fortieth anniversary of The Face in the Frost. It is still the first (and the only compleat) book to feature the wizards Prospero and Roger Bacon who live in a strange land known only as the Southern Kingdom. And what a book it is. Bellairs actually composed a lot of the book in another kingdom – the United Kingdom...England – in his years after teaching at Shimer College. How far along in Prospero's tale Bellairs was before he arrived in England is uncertain but the ambiance there surely inspired him – note the similarities of local flavor found in the Gorgon's head in Bath and Somerset's Five Dials Inn to some of the encounters in Face.

And just in time for the big Four-Oh is the release of a sequel (okay, part of a sequel) called The Dolphin Cross.

That said, in celebration of this fantastic fortieth anniversary we ask you what’s your favorite moment from the book? What passage kept you up at all hours of the night? Are there any memories that still stand out long after the book has returned to the shelf?

Share your remembrances here or at the John Bellairs Experience.

Shelf Life: September 2

2009-09-02T01:00:00.002-05:00

Something about the (other) Cronin House
Some comments on the Cronin House of Marshall...and some bit of history on the Cronin House in Hayward, California. There’s no relation between the two aside from the name but the one out west sounded as if it had an interesting history, too. (Here are some pictures of the place, too.)

The Cronin House of Marshall is still for sale it seems, based on some pictures.

Eyes of the Killer Robot
No, not the book...but the (we think) Washington D.C.-based band has surfaced again. Yes, the band we mentioned a few years ago popped up again and so this all but confirms they’re still out there...still going strong. (Band members, feel free to reply with the story of how the band got their name.) For the record, Anthony Monday was the name of another band (I believe Canadian) that we heard about a few years ago; we have an MP3 of one of their songs in our collection of Bellairs-related audio.

An interview with Dan Poblocki
Poblocki is the author of The Stone Child and confesses to being a fan of Mr. Bellairs:

I loved the John Bellairs mysteries when I was a kid. I read them over and over. My aim for The Stone Child was to create a story that someone would want to revisit, not only as a child, but as an adult. I'll still pick up a John Bellairs book every now and again. They're spooky, but the characters are so endearing, I love spending time with them.

You can visit Dan’s website or read a review of his first book, The Stone Child.

46th Annual Historic Home Tour

2009-09-01T19:23:00.006-05:00

The Marshall, Michigan Home Tour is in its 46th year of offering exquisite private homes and businesses for public viewing and enjoyment. The tour will feature vintage homes and historic museums covering diverse specialties such as unusual architecture, antique home furnishings, and more. The Home Tour was voted the Best Home Tour by the readers of AAA's Michigan Living magazine.

Saturday, September 12, 9:00 to 5:00
Sunday, September 13, 10:00 to 5:00

For more information, including associated costs, please contact the Marshall Historical Society or Chamber of Commerce.

Elsewhere...Laura Martone shares some comments on the tour and some of the historical residences in Marshall, and Historical Ken discusses some of the other tours around Michigan.

Some pictures of Marshall courtesy Scott Diussa and David Bowser.

Time Capsule: 1959

2009-08-21T08:21:00.000-05:00

August 21, 1959: Fifty years ago today, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation making Hawaii the 50th state. Hawaii had been considered for a state as far back as 1919 but it took another four decades to make it happen.

A century before, the islands were known as the Sandwich Islands and this is where President James Buchanan sent former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Abner Pratt to serve as ambassador. It was this tour of duty as Hawaiian Consul that enabled Pratt to contribute what is probably the most tangible of his legacies to Michigan, the famed Honolulu House.

Celebrate Hawaii Admission Day and take in some Hawaiian architecture at the Honolulu House, which later served as inspiration for Brad Strickland’s house where nobody lived.

Update: Widow's Walk Lake

2009-08-08T09:41:00.004-05:00

Filmmaker and Bellairs-fan James Strayer got in touch with us late last year about Widow's Walk Lake, a film inspired partly by some of Bellairs’ spooky stories.

Strayer gave us an update this week of how the project is progressing:

Max Records has been cast as our young William. If you have not heard of Max yet, you will this October when Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze is released. He plays...Max. I'm pretty thrilled to be working with him on this. Also, our exceedingly talented art department is crewed nearly exclusively by people who worked on the great stop motion film, Coraline. They have been gathering and developing props for Widow's Walk Lake all summer.

Fans can read more about the upcoming film on Strayer's Facebook page.

Creature for Sale

2009-08-07T20:00:00.000-05:00

We mentioned a year or so ago that the Cronin House was for sale. Hearing nothing since then, we sort of figured the house was again serving as a family’s home. Not so. Bellairs-fan Bill Tiller passed word along to us today that the house is still looking for an owner.

We wonder if the Pendleton-Alexander House ever found an owner?

Shelf Life: August 2

2009-08-02T10:26:00.004-05:00

Strickland’s Kong heads to big screen
Spirit Pictures has picked up the rights to the book Kong: King of Skull Island, a prequel to the well-known tale of the big ape. Penned by Joe DeVito and Brad Strickland, the story takes place twenty-five years after the monster’s iconic fall off the Empire State Building, but ultimately tells the story of Kong's origins. It introduces other giant gorillas and dinosaurs only hinted at in the previous films. The book was published at the same time Peter Jackson was producing his remake of King Kong. Rights to make the movie were brokered with the Merian C. Cooper family, who own the Kong property. Cooper co-directed the original Kong in 1933.

Variety reports (wow, we've never said that before on Bellairsia...) the plan is to produce the film using motion-capture technology such as Robert Zemeckis used to make The Polar Express, Beowulf, and the upcoming A Christmas Carol.

Speaking of Films...
The Between Failures blog has heard rumors of an upcoming movie adaptation of The House with a Clock in its Walls. We haven’t heard any rumors ourselves, that is new rumors, but the writer does share some concerns about converting Bellairs’ prose into a feature film:

That book was written at a time when children were allowed to experience fear. What would a modern film company do to such a book? More horrifying things than anything the writer conjured up I’m sure.

But then the Media Macaroni blog would like to see House as done by the Coen Brothers. You know - for kids.

Gashlycrumb Goes 3D
A sort-of animated, three-dimensional version of the Gorey’s Gashlycrumb Tinies – although we just tend to hover around Fanny and the leeches.

Photographic Memories: Marshall
We never turn down the chance to showcase some photographs of John’s hometown, Marshall, Michigan.

Book Alert: Magic Mirrors

2009-08-01T10:00:00.003-05:00

Magic Mirrors, the new John Bellairs omnibus, is now available for purchase from the New England Science Fiction Association (NESFA). Want a copy of The Face in the Frost with Marilyn Fitschen’s original artwork? Want to relive the adventures of The Pedant and the Shuffly? Want to finally see St. Fidgeta back in print after all these years?

That’s all possible with Magic Mirrors. However, surely the biggest draw will be the unfinished book fragment called The Dolphin Cross, Bellairs’ attempt at a sequel to The Face in the Frost with wizards Prospero and Roger Bacon.

We haven’t read anything new by John in almost 20 years so this is going to be quite an experience for those of us who combed over the Bantam paperbacks during the 1980s and fidgeted with excitement at the tantalizing reminder at the end of each book:

A resident of Haverhill, Massachusetts, Mr. Bellairs is currently working on another chilling tale.

A Tribute to Bellairs

2009-07-05T12:05:00.001-05:00

Amy Martin pens a nice tribute to Bellairs:

It seems little recognition is given to the late John Bellairs who died in 1991. Hollywood, with its remakes of Friday the 13th and paranormal vampire romances, seems to have overlooked the young adult classic gothic thrillers by John Bellairs. However, I do not understand why some of his books have not been made into movies because, to me, there are nothing short of genius.

Shelf Life: June 22

2009-06-22T01:30:00.001-05:00

The Wonders of EHAG
The June 2009 theme for the Eclectic Halloween Artist Group (EHAG) is tributes to Edward Gorey. There’s a plethora of Gorey-inspired wickedness and other great Halloween artistry to lose yourself for an hour or so...so get crackin’! Jennifer MacNeill-Traylor has a nice Washington Irving-inspired piece and Laurie Hardin has created a majestic orb.

The Graveyard Book
Blogger bedsight mentions Bellairs’ name in his review of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.

Portraying the real Myra Eells
The Fort Walla Walla Museum has hosted a few Living History performances recently including one of pioneer missionaries Cushing and Myra Eells. No, it's not the Myra Eells you think we're talking about, and, yes, there really was a real-life Myra Eells.

A Visit to Edward Gorey’s House
Twisted Susan tells the tale.

Time Capsule: 68 AD

2009-06-09T02:00:00.003-05:00

July 9, 68 AD: The Roman Emperor Nero committed suicide after he was deposed by the Senate 1,941 years ago today (we think it was a Saturday). Nero is best remembered all these years later for his tyranny and lavishness – that he “fiddled while Rome burned” and later constructed a golden palace.

As for the fiddling, the Great Fire of Rome started on a July night in the year 64 AD. Who or what caused the fire is up for debate but popular legend placed the emperor playing his lyre and singing whilst the city burned (fiddles weren’t popular at the time, partially due to their non-existence). Following the fire Nero sought to construct a palace to show off his wealth and give the greatest parties the world had seen. The resulting Golden Palace, or Domus Aurea, was brick and mortar but took its name from the gold leaf that covered its walls. In addition to the interior of gold and jewels and paintings, Nero had a massive golden statue of himself installed outside the palace in the event anyone forgot where they were going or the name of their host.

During the 1960s, Bellairs was quite familiar with both Nero and the extravagances of his reign as emperor. John’s aborted doctoral dissertation was an analysis of The Tragedy of Nero (1624) written by an anonymous author in the midst of the Elizabethan era. While some of the historical names and places from this play popped up later in his fiction (i.e. Melichus and Sporus and even the Golden Palace), we’re told that once St. Fidgeta became a published reality, whatever remnants there were of the thesis were destroyed and John “never looked back.”

We cracked a smile at this bit of trivia: Nero is a major character in the film The Sign of the Cross (1932) where he is portrayed by actor Charles Laughton. A number of people we’ve interviewed over the years have responded with Laughton’s name* when we’ve asked for a description of Bellairs.

* Laughton and that Hitchcock fellow.

Bibliofile: June 1

2009-06-01T19:00:00.001-05:00

With the Memorial Day weekend – the unofficial beginning of summer – behind us, we thought it best to start thinking about summer reading choices. Here’s a few suggestions that we’ve come across:

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The Salisbury Cathedral angle caught our eye on Laura Casey’s blog about this “...historically accurate [book] set at Salisbury Cathedral built around 1220 in Salisbury, England.”

An Enemy at Green Knowe by Lucy Boston
Nick Campbell posted a comment in our Bellairsia newsgroup about An Enemy at Green Knowe:

..."Enemy..." is about demons and witches and things that go bump in the night – I think it's deliberately [M.R.] Jamesian (there's a hideous white hopping thing, just like in "Casting The Runes") and it definitely gave me a shiver, whilst obviously being something very individual, a children's novel, and with a happy ending - for the goodies, that is....

The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch by Joseph Delaney
John Hornor says he has

...an unapologetic love for John Bellairs books. Bellairs was really a precursor to all these magical orphan YA novels you see coming out, the Potter books, the Lemony Snicket. Bellairs, to me, established a tone remarkable for its clarity and quirky characters decades before J.K. Rowling cobbled together Hogwarts from the stones of previous fantastic worlds.

He also discusses The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch, also known as

The Spook's Apprentice (which is the UK title - I don't understand why everybody thinks Americans need the bombastic, Hollywood titles)....

The Bone Key by Sarah Monette
Charlotte recommends The Bone Key:

In this collection, ten old-fashioned ghostly stories are connected by their unwilling and frequently-appalled narrator, the unfortunate Kyle Murchison Booth. Awkward, insomniac, painfully shy, the archivist participates in just one badly-orchestrated necromantic ceremony and now the dead won’t leave him alone.

Inspired by the antiquarian ghost stories of M.R. James, Monette’s elegant prose delivers shivers without gore, Lovecraft without the bombast.

Huh...sort of sounds like the Bellairsia archivist raising Cain at staff meetings.

Wicked Will by Bailey MacDonald
Finally, Bailey MacDonald’s debut book – Wicked Will: A Mystery of Young William Shakespeare – will be published June 23, 2009:

When some wandering actors stroll into his home town of Stratford to perform their plays, Will Shakespeare thinks that he is going to have a lot of fun. He doesn't count on someone murdering Edmund Speight, an ill-tempered old farmer. Nor is he prepared when one of the actors, young Tom Pryne, needs Will's help because Tom's uncle has been falsely accused of the murder!

MacDonald is a professional actress and playwright who lives near Atlanta, Georgia and when she is not writing, she performs under a different name in a theater group in that city.

How about you? What's your summer reading schedule looking like?

Shelf Life: May 25

2009-05-25T06:00:00.003-05:00

Goreyana: The Curse of the Blue Figurine
The Goreyana blog moves ahead several squares to discuss Edward Gorey’s artwork in The Curse of the Blue Figurine, which established the beloved format of wraparound dust-jackets in color and black-and-white frontispieces.

Stone Cold Crazy
In the novel Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell there is a wonderful passage in which the statues in York Minster Cathedral are brought to life by magic and begin to speak. The “Into My Own” blog speculates what the “statues and figures that can be seen in Edinburgh” might be pontificating about.

And this Irving Finkel, mentioned in the article in regard to the Lewis Chessmen? He’s real...though probably not Edward Gorey’s doppelganger, this inspired curio of the British Museum (“an Assyriologist specializing in Mesopotamian magic and medicine...also interested in the history of board games throughout the world...”) reminded of us of Murgatroyd Freel, the man ran-afoul by Professor Childermass’ temper.

Links:
britishmuseum.org
time.com
photo at flickr

Science Fiction and Fantasy Ethics
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Ethics blog goes live June 1st, with contributors Tony Ballantyne, Eric Brown, James Lovegrove, Jeffrey Thomas, and many others. Their mission is to “celebrate everything positive, funky and exciting in the Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror Universe!”

A most massively useful thing
Oh...and it's Towel Day, by the way. Share and...oh, never mind.

Shelf Life: May 18

2009-05-18T02:00:00.001-05:00

Photographic Memories
Andrew Devenney writes on his blog that he’s decided to “do an art/history project of some sort that'll be a mixture of photography and personal memoir...the subject will be my old hometown of Marshall, Michigan....” We look forward to seeing John's hometown through another pair of eyes.

Collecting the elusive Bellairs
Brer at the Power of Babel blog writes about his growing collection of Bellairs books: “Thirty years on I am grateful that my instinct and luck led me to buy that first Bellairs.” There is also a plug for the Magic Mirrors omnibus to be published...well, best we can tell now August. How about we say (and hope) “this year.”

Bookmarking the late John Bellairs
We couldn’t help but scratch our heads this week when we received an interesting email from people soliciting bookmarks for a Chicago-area celebrity bookmark auction. It began innocent enough but the message soon took an odd turn:

We...would LOVE it if John could sign a bookmark for us to auction off. It would be great if he could make the bookmark, but if you already have one he could sign and send that's great too. All proceeds go directly to our programs that teach adults the joys of literacy.

We think a lot of people would love it if John could sign anything, let alone a bookmark. The only such item we’ve ever seen is one released by Dial in the early 1990s that promotes the “mysterious worlds of John Bellairs.” There may have been some variations on this bookmark - we've heard of one that said "chillers" or something - but this is the first of any we've ever seen.

In all seriousness, there is more about the event online (www.bookmarkauction.org) and the sponsoring organization (www.literacychicago.org). It sounds like a worthy and exciting cause...just not one John will be able to participate in.

However...what would you do if you could create a Bellairsian bookmark? Got an ideas?

Photographic Memories: Staunton Harold

2009-05-14T19:20:00.004-05:00

Here’s a great picture from Richard Trim of the Staunton Harold manor house near Leicestershire, England. Imagine young Johnny Dixon racing from the church to the Glomus manor house in a blinding rain all the while the Guardian is close on his heels. And then our soupy friend Godfrey de Bouillon shows up....

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Celebrating Michigan Week 2009

2009-05-13T21:24:00.003-05:00

Michigan Week was created in 1954 to unite members of local communities and promote the good things the state has to offer. The Battle Creek Enquirer reports that “Marshall is one of the few cities across the state that puts on a host of activities celebrating Michigan's past, present and future.”

As part of the week-long calendar of events, the city will open many of their local museums to the public free of charge on Saturday, May 16 – or Hospitality/Tourism Day. From 10 AM to 5 PM one can visit the Honolulu House Museum, the American Museum of Magic, the Capitol Hill School, the Governor’s Mansion, and the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) Hall, among other locations.

At 11:00 the Brooks Memorial Fountain Rededication ceremony will take place at the intersection of Kalamazoo and Michigan Avenues. The Enquirer says that “over the past eight months, the fountain has undergone an extensive restoration, which included removing and replacing its historic columns. [...] A fundraising effort called Give to the Fountain Today, or GIFT, [raised] $257,000 in donations from groups and individuals in the community.”

Links:
Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce

Memoriam: Dominic DiMaggio

2009-05-09T07:15:00.002-05:00

Dom DiMaggio, the former center fielder for the Boston Red Sox from 1940 to 1953, and the younger brother of Yankees center fielder Joe, died Friday, May 8. He was 92.

DiMaggio was special favorite of Johnny Dixon's because both wore glasses and Johnny had been to Fenway Park to hear the kids chant:

He’s better than his brother Joe,
Do-mi-nic Di-Mag-gi-o!

(The Mummy, the Will, and the Crypt, 39).

Goreyana: The House with a Clock in Its Walls

2009-05-07T20:21:00.003-05:00

Our friends at Goreyana present the first post (of hopefully many) about the artwork found in the work of John Bellairs. Today it's the book that started everything, The House with a Clock in Its Walls.

Shelf Life: May 4

2009-05-04T18:00:00.004-05:00

John Bellairs and Edward Gorey
The Goreyana blog discusses the artwork Gorey used to illustrate John Bellairs and Brad Strickland's books. We also learn that "In 1994, Edward Gorey found that his home needed extensive repairs which could be put off no longer. To this end, EG decided to sell many of the original illustrations he had been commissioned to create for various projects and authors over the years. Gotham Book Mart offered the original art, which included many of the Bellairs illustrations."

Memoriam: Tom Deitz
Author Tom Deitz has died; he was 57. He was the author of the Soulsmith Trilogy and nine books staring David Sullivan. The Gainesville Times discusses his memorial services:

It was not your typical memorial service, but probably one that [fantasy author] Tom Deitz would have wanted.

Brad Strickland, a longtime friend, colleague and fellow fantasy writer, put on a blue flowery shirt that he said he wore a couple years ago at a faculty picnic. "Tom came up to me and said, ‘Professor Strickland, that is a cool shirt. Only you’re not cool enough to wear it,’" Strickland said, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Always take the weather vane with you
Learnteach’s weather vane 1) apparently does not make snarfling noises, and 2) is a whale, not a hippo. Sort of like Prospero's house.

The Book in the Bathroom
Makebelievedude says he "was trying to remember the name of a children's book I read years ago last week. Tonight, I stumbled upon the first book in the series, randomly in a bathroom." Sure.

And finally, May the 4th be with you.

Gorey exhibition shows combination of humor and macabre

2009-05-02T14:17:00.002-05:00

From the Gaea News:

In Edward Gorey’s world, malevolent forces hover around Edwardian mansions, fashionable people cluster uneasily in drawing rooms and scores of tiny tots come to unspeakable ends — all narrated with dispassion and illustrated with macabre pen and ink drawings.

The work of Gorey, artist, author and award-winning costume designer, is celebrated in “Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey” at the Brandywine River Museum in suburban Philadelphia. The first traveling exhibition of Gorey’s work, it features 180 drawings, sketches, notebooks and other items.

In Edward Gorey’s world, malevolent forces hover around Edwardian mansions, fashionable people cluster uneasily in drawing rooms and scores of tiny tots come to unspeakable ends — all narrated with dispassion and illustrated with macabre pen and ink drawings.

The work of Gorey, artist, author and award-winning costume designer, is celebrated in “Elegant Enigmas: The Art of Edward Gorey” at the Brandywine River Museum in suburban Philadelphia. The first traveling exhibition of Gorey’s work, it features 180 drawings, sketches, notebooks and other items.

Gorey wrote dozens of books ostensibly for children with titles like The Glorious Nosebleed, The Fatal Lozenge, and The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas. He sometimes pops up as a character in his own work, dressed in a gigantic beaver coat that hangs in a case in the exhibition.

The artist is perhaps best known for the satirical animation that opens the long-running PBS “Mystery” series. A lady swoons on a wall as mustached men in bowler hats creep by a mansion on a dark night. Later, conversation in a drawing room is hushed by the sound of shots as a body sinks into a lake outside — and a trench-coated detective writes it all down.

Gorey can tell truly ghastly stories, such as the mutual destruction of The Deranged Cousins or the child-killing career of The Loathesome Couple, but with an impartial narration that keeps the chills at bay. In a 1996 interview for a retrospective of the “Mystery” series, he said he didn’t consider himself a horror writer like Stephen King.

“Only very occasionally do I try to shock in a mild sort of way,” he said. “I’m very squeamish, really.”

Memoriam: George Kell

2009-03-24T19:27:00.003-05:00

George Kell, a former third baseman who played for, among other teams, the Detroit Tigers from 1947 to 1952, has died. He was 86.

Shortly after arriving in New Zebedee in 1948, Lewis and his uncle Jonathan discuss Tiger baseball and whether Lewis knows Kell’s batting average that year.