Bellairsia: 2013

Friday, December 20, 2013

Time Capsule: Imaginary Worlds (1973)

Labels: 20 century - 1970s, face in the frost, names - carter lin

This year not only marks the fortieth year of The House with a Clock in it Walls (as has been noted throughout the blog’s last twelve months) but also of Imaginary Worlds: the Art of Fantasy, the study of the modern literary fantasy genre authored by Lin Carter (1930-88).

Where's There: Mount Palomar Observatory

Labels: house with a clock in its walls, things - astronomy

It is said Lewis would one day work as an astronomer at this California observatory [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 120].

Anna Holmes: In the Mind of a 10-Year-Old

Labels: fandom

We’ve received more than a few alerts to the December 8 edition of the New York Times Sunday Review and the brief interview with Anna Holmes, the founder and editor of the online magazine/blog, Jezebel – known for, the NYT says, its smart and snarky feminist content. Holmes goes through some of her interests in the form of what she’s following, listening [to], and wearing – and for reading she heaps plenty of praise on John’s work:

The First Book To Terrify Me

Labels: fandom, house with a clock in its walls

Jenn's Bookshelf blog has a guest post from Belle Wong, owner of Ms.Bookish.com, that discusses - as the title of the post says - the first book to terrify me. Belle cites Bellairs' The House with a Clock in its Walls and remembers reading the Yearling paperback's tagline ("The thing was ticking away, marking off the minutes until doomsday") and the cover being the "scariest cover out of any book I’d ever read up until then."

BiblioFile: The House with a Clock in its Walls (1995)

Labels: audiobooks, bibliofile - united states, house with a clock in its walls

In 1995 The House with a Clock in its Walls – as well as four other titles – was released in audiobook format by Recorded Books, LLC. The unabridged novel was read across either three audio cassettes or four compact discs for upwards of four-and-a-half hours of listening excitement. Telling the story is acclaimed award-winning narrator and actor George Guidall who has has recorded over 900 unabridged novels that have favorably earned reviews from Audiofile, Library Journal, Publisher's Weekly, and a variety of national newspapers and magazines.

Spooks, Character, and Place

Labels: fandom, places - us - minnesota

Justin Glanville is both the president of the Munchen, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and a fan of John Bellairs. Well, that’s not quite right – he’s not so much the president as he is the town’s co-creator.

Staging "Ring Round the Moon"

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, places - us - minnesota, things - plays

The second in a series of articles about Bellairs performing with the College of Saint Teresa Drama Department.

Time Capsule: November 22, 1963

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, places - us - minnesota

Friday, November 22, 1963: The Tea House at the corner of West 17th and Gould Streets on the campus of the College of Saint Teresa in Winona, Minnesota. That’s what the late Norbert Geier remembered.

We’ve met numerous people over the years here at Bellairsia, mostly sharing memories of John and his life and times. Sometimes the stories recall momentous events – the publication of a book or the news of a chance encounter – but often they are anecdotes of what was happening a generation or two ago. This story is a bit of both.

"House" at 40 Fan Art: The Ace of Nitwits - What’s Up Your Sleeve?

Labels: fans - art, house with a clock in its walls

Friday, November 15, 2013

What’s What: Muggins Simoon

Labels: house with a clock in its walls, things - transportation

Jonathan Barnavelt's automobile; a 1935 model, described as "a big black car with running boards and a windshield that could be cranked open" [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 94].

Time Capsule: Nov. 11, 1983

Labels: 20 century - 1980s, places - us - michigan

It's always interesting to find out something more about John Bellairs. Thirty years ago today, his father, Frank, died.

Goreyana: The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder

Labels: bell the book and the spellbinder, names - gorey edward

Irwin Terry has some new notes at Goreyana about the original artwork from 1997's The Bell, the Book, and the Spellbinder:

BiblioFile: 壁のなかの時計 (2001)

Labels: bibliofile - japan, house with a clock in its walls

Of all the editions of The House with a Clock in its Walls we’ve reviewed this year, this is the one version we can’t read. At all. We don’t speak or read French or German but we’re able to thumb through books in those languages and still get a feel for where we are story-wise. Not with this yellow-bound beauty from Artist House. We’re totally lost with a book printed in Japan. More so, in Japanese.

The Autumnal Genius Of John Bellairs

Labels: fandom, house with a clock in its walls

Grady Hendrix at Tor.com writes about the nostalgia that this time of year brings to mind: burning autumn leaves on an overcast day, a static-filled radio station playing Brylcreem advertisements, a scratchy wool blanket ... it's the nostalgia of John Bellairs:

High on a Stage: The College of Saint Teresa Drama Department

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, places - us - minnesota, things - plays

The first in a series of articles about Bellairs performing with the College of Saint Teresa Drama Department.

Interview: Irwin Terry

Labels: fans - interview, names - gorey edward

Irwin Terry authors the Goreyana blog and creates stained glass windows in his spare time (or vicey versa) – including this gem recreating the image seen on the just-jacket of The Revenge of the Wizard’s Ghost that he donated to an Edward Gorey House auction back in 2010. When we last left Irwin he was giving us his top five illustrations from The House with a Clock in its Walls and discussing how he came to be a collector of Edward Gorey’s original artwork. This time around we chat about some Bellairs and Gorey collaborations.

"House" at 40 Fan Art: Zimmermann's Fifty Things of Purple

Labels: fans - art, house with a clock in its walls

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Who’s Who: Emmanuel de Grouchy

Labels: house with a clock in its walls annotations, people

One of Jonathan’s illusions of famous scenes from the past includes a version of the Battle of Waterloo where the French won; setting the scene to his nephew, Jonathan says this French general was sent to keep the Prussian general Blücher busy [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 79].

Young Adult Books That Changed Our Lives

Labels: chessmen of doom, face in the frost, fandom, house with a clock in its walls

This week the CNN Living Staff published an article entitled Young Adult Books That Changed Our Lives. Said staff "posed the question to members of the CNN Digital newsroom to find out which books have stuck with them since adolescence. To even things out, we sought input from the millennials in the newsroom, too." The published list includes some Judy Blume, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott and Louise Fitzhugh's nearing fifty Harriet the Spy - plus The Face in the Frost, The House With a Clock in Its Walls, and - of all things - The Chessmen of Doom:

BiblioFile: The House with a Clock in its Walls: A Study Guide

Labels: bibliofile - united states, house with a clock in its walls

We’ve heard a handful of stories about John’s work being used in the classroom, everything from projects based on the books being presented by students to teachings introducing historical topics based on some of the stories. In 1994, Thomas J. Palumbo wrote Integrating the Literature of John Bellairs in the Classroom, and John’s life and work were the subject of a master’s thesis in 2011. Back in 1992 someone put together an entire workbook based on one book.

A Brief History of the College of Saint Teresa

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, places - us - minnesota

The College of Saint Teresa was a Catholic women's college in Winona, Minnesota. Founded as a women's seminary, it became a college in 1907 and ceased operations in 1989. John Bellairs taught here beginning fifty years ago this month, between September 1963 and spring 1965.

Interview: Shelia Foley

Labels: fans - interview, places - us - massachusetts

In 2007 the Haverhill Mural Project installed six outdoor murals on downtown historical buildings that depict the rich history and culture of that city. The following year project supervisors invited more professional artists the opportunity to create additional murals for inclusion as part of a downtown walking tour. Five years ago this month artist Shelia Foley unveiled her mural honoring John Bellairs and five years on we reconnect with Shelia to discuss this and some of her other artistic endeavors.

Researching Mary Zimmerman Again

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, names - zimmerman mary, people, places - us - wisconsin, series - lewis barnavelt

With this year being the fortieth anniversary of The House with a Clock in its Walls we thought we’d revisit again the life and times of Mary Holoubek Zimmerman. Does that name sound almost familiar but not quite right? It should. Here’s some of our initial research from a decade ago.

Off-and-on this year we’ve dug back into the trenches for grins to see if anything new could be found. We did feel a bit foolish at the get-go of the hunt if only because we realized that we have had a street address for her all these years. Sort of. During our initial research a decade ago, the fine folks at the Wisconsin Historical Society sent us what amounts to an autobiographical sketch that includes her birth (Chicago; September 18, 1905), martial status (wife of Louis P. Zimmerman, married 1934), children (two), and an address.

"House" at 40 Fan Art: Elementary, it’s Lewis!

Labels: fans - art, house with a clock in its walls

Sunday, September 15, 2013

Where's There: University of Göttingen

Labels: house with a clock in its walls annotations, things

We learn that Mrs. Zimmermann earned a D. Mag. A. degree (Doctor Magicorum Artium) from the University of Göttingen in Germany in back 1922 [The House with a Clock in its Walls; 34].

Time Capsule: The First Fidgettine Phenomenon

Labels: 20 century - 1960s, names - fitschen marilyn, places - us - illinois, places - us - minnesota, saint fidgeta

We’re celebrating a half-century since the first miraculous Fidgettine vision!

It was fifty years ago this year...when exactly we’re not quite clear...that John Bellairs began frequenting the apartment of his friends, Dale and Marilyn Fitschen. Both John and Dale were taking classes at the nearby University of Chicago, with Bellairs plodding along in pursuit of his doctorate in literature and pounding out pages of his dissertation.

BiblioFile: La Pendola Magica (1975)

Labels: bibliofile - italy, house with a clock in its walls, names - gorey edward

Of all the foreign editions of The House with a Clock in its Walls we have seen over the years it’s been the two initial Italian outings that have always had the most mystique to us - in part because they’re almost as old as the original American edition. Aside from some one-off outings from Germany and England in the late-1970s, when we began The Dullard’s Bane back in 2001 all the major foreign editions of House that existed were from Italy – making it the first country to publish John’s novels outside the United States. Italy kept at it, too, as we’ve seen close to a half-dozen different covers dating from between the 1970s through the 1990s. It would seem then our website began about the time there was a rise in new translations, with House soon appearing in Polish, Japanese, Serbian, and French. We wish we could take credit for it but let us not be silly.

2013 Living History Portrayal Walk

Labels: places - us - michigan, things - events

For the thirteenth year in a row ... lucky number 13 ... Marshall, Michigan’s Oakridge Cemetery will conjure up the ghosts of so many years ago with the annual "If These Stones Could Talk..." tour. Visitors will learn about a handful of significant people from Marshall's past by actors portraying the deceased at their grave site. Small groups will be guided by hosts in a predetermined lantern-illuminated pattern through the cemetery and the once-prominent residents will rise up and share their stories.

Time Capsule: September 1, 1993

Labels: 20 century - 1990s, names - strickland brad, vengeance of the witch-finder

September 1, 1993: We’re pleased to be continuing the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Brad Strickland’s association with John Bellairs’ characters and in particular the two decades since The Vengeance of the Witch-finder was published.

Collecting the First Edition Library Issue of House

Labels: fans - collecting, house with a clock in its walls

Book collector Russ Bernard leads the book collecting discussions at our fan forum (the appropriately named The Books, the Covers, and the Collectors group) and he’s been on a mission for quite some time to find a first library edition of The House with a Clock in its Walls. It’s for a project that he’s piecing together – he’s shared some of it with us and it’s a compelling theory – but he needs some assistance in finalizing it.

"I am trying to find a copy to use for comparison between the various issues of the first printings of House, and I have copies of other issues but still need this regular library issue for comparison."

BiblioFile: O Fantasma No Espelho

Labels: bibliofile - brazil, ghost in the mirror

We mentioned earlier in the year that 2013 marks 20 years since The Ghost in the Mirror was published. We were looking at the book’s history recently, recalling something that had bugged us once in the past, and thought we’d ask the boys...eh, our amigos...in Brazil about this one.

BiblioFile: Luis Barnavelt i zegar czarnoksiężnika

Labels: bibliofile - poland, house with a clock in its walls

Yes, it’s time to uncover another zwariowany cover from the collection of Polish editions in the Lewis Barnavelt series. Keeping up this year's theme we’re going to take a quick peek at Luis Barnavelt i zegar czarnoksiężnika.

Remembering Ivan Meštrović

Labels: 20 century - 1950s, places - us - indiana

Today is the 130th birthday of Ivan Meštrović (1883-1962), the Croatian sculptor and architect and, starting in 1955, professor of sculpture at the University of Notre Dame.

What’s What: Washington Elm

Labels: house with a clock in its walls, places - us - massachusetts, things

We’ve received a number of interesting inquiries about John’s life and work over the years and one particular question about a tree pops up once every so often. Perceptive readers of the original Dial edition of The House with a Clock in its Walls will recall the rear flap of the dust jacket that notes John was living in Haverhill with his family, "a grandfather clock, and a piece of the elm tree under which George Washington took command of the American army."

Sounds like a rather impressive souvenir right? Like every good story, however, there is both fact and fiction surrounding this tree.

"House" at 40 Fan Art: Watch Out - There's Only One Izard!

Labels: fans - art, house with a clock in its walls