Go Bellairs! Quote Chaucer!

On the dust jacket of the original Harcourt Brace Jovanovich edition of The Treasure of Alpheus Winterborn you’ll find this interesting bit of trivia bout John:

While an undergraduate at Notre Dame University, John Bellairs startled a national television audience by quoting Middle English on the College Bowl program. He went on to teach English at several colleges and to travel widely. 

Treasure Castaways

Is there such a thing as an Art Kassul Fan Club?

Time Capsule: September 30, 1955

September, 30 1955: Back to college we go as television and music star Eddie Fisher drops in on the student body at Notre Dame, broadcasting his NBC program, Coke Time, live from the pep rally at the old field house. Along hand in the production were the Notre Dame Band and Glee Club.

After the program, Fisher and wife Debbie Reynolds mingled with students; both were in attendance at the football game against Indiana the next day.

We've learned John was not the BMOC at this point so we find it doubtful he was in attendance at the pep rally.

Memoriam: Helen Cresswell

Author Helen Cresswell died Sept. 26 of cancer at her home in England. Cresswell is best remembered for his books staring Lizzie Dripping, the girl with a witch as a best friend, and The Bagthorpe Saga, the tales of inept British eccentrics, both later adapted for television by the BBC. "I do not particularly believe in what most people call reality. I only really believe in truth of the imagination," she said.

BBC: Helen Cresswell's literary legacy
Links: FantasticFiction

Fidgety Feet

Digging through the trenches recently we stumbled upon an online record store where one could purchase a slew of unfamiliar albums from almost anywhere across the world (mainly Poland, the Czech Republic, the eastern half of West Germany and so on). One particular record caught our eye: a 1988 album by the USSR-based Nevskaya Vosmyorka Jazz Band. The album is entitled Fidgeta.

Remembering Roommate Ronald Cardwell

Fifty years ago this fall John Bellairs began life as a college undergraduate at the University of Notre Dame. While there are the usual number of firsts anyone undergoes transitioning from high school to college, one first of Bellairs's was this semester he had a roommate in Zahm Hall. Actually, in four years of college at Notre Dame, Ronald Cardwell would be Bellairs's only room mate.

Whatever happened to Cardwell is uncertain but another Zahm resident - Bellairs's life-long friend Alfred Myers - was nice enough to recall their brief encounter:

Who Is Chubby Lewis?

That's the question we were once asked and we didn't have a good answer. Why are the Lewis Barnavelt books sometimes referred to as the "Chubby Lewis" series?

Notre Dame: Living in Zahm Hall

Fifty years ago this fall, Bellairs began his Freshman year (1955-56) on the University of Notre Dame campus. During this initial year, he lived in Zahm Hall.

Itinerary: Bellairs Walk, Marshall

by Leah Adams (July 29, 2005)
(Originally published at LiveJournal)

Wednesday, I got to fulfill one of my lifelong childhood dreams. This was more important to me than going to New Orleans. For those that know me, that’s pretty damned important. This was like my own personal Mecca. I got to go to Marshall, Michigan.

Dost Thou Turn Away And Hide Thy Face

There’s news of a possible break in the case of Joseph Force Crater, the prominent New York City judge who disappeared on August 6, 1930. A recently discovered letter asserts Crater was murdered and buried near the Coney Island boardwalk:

...and the Prisoner of Guantanamo?

Go figure: the Harry Potter series and books by Agatha Christie are what are being read at the Guantanamo Bay prison at the U.S. Naval Base in Cuba [article]. The Washington Times first reported Monday about the reading habits, noting Christie is popular since some of her mysteries are set in the Middle East. The Times also notes the library has 1,200 books and the Potter tales in four languages: English, French, Farsi and Russian. It's on order in Arabic and someone had put a request out for the film adaptations.

Tales of a College Nothing

In his June 23 article in the Daily Californian (Berkeley), David Boyk writes an interesting review of John Bellairs’s books, mentioning The Curse of the Blue Figurine, among others. What we found funny?

“...they have pictures by Edward Gorey. Sadly, new editions have replaced his stylish, weird scratchings with the work of some schmuck who wouldn’t know a cross-hatch if it hit him in the Roman nose.”

Our favorite?

“The world’s simple, and the biggest problems mostly have to do with Johnny accidentally hurting Grampa’s feelings.”

2005 Living History Portrayal Walk

Oakridge Cemetery in Marshall, Michigan is host once again to the annual Living History Portrayal Walk. This guided walking tour will feature actors portraying seven significant persons from Marshall's past at each of those individual's gravesites. The event will take place rain or shine so participants are encouraged to bring flashlights, wear comfortable walking shoes, and carry an umbrella.

When: October 15, 2005
Time: 6:00 pm

Tickets for this fundraiser will be limited to 300. For more information, including cost, please contact the Marshall Chamber of Commerce.

Paging Pascale Cosse

For at least the past seven years Pascale Cosse has been named as one of the writers of the film adaptation of The House with a Clock in its Walls, as seen on the Internet Movie Database (imdb.com).

Book Alert: The House Where Nobody Lived

From Brad Strickland:

With the settlement of Frank Bellairs's estate, the publisher has asked for new books and the first one will be called The House Where Nobody Lived. The publishers asked for a Lewis book, so that's what it is. It's based on an actual house in Marshall, Michigan, though I've taken liberties with it and have relocated it.

In other breaking news, it really looks as if the movie of The House with a Clock in Its Walls will finally be produced. Stay tuned.