Review: Weatherend "Fine Sense of the Odd...Humorous"

Book review: The Dark Secret of Weatherend

Testimony: Lewis Barnavelt: Friend for Life

by Jay Cook (2003)
(Originally published at the compleatbellairs.com)

When I was in elementary school in rural Indiana, I spent a rainy Saturday afternoon watching cartoons and drawing while eating my way through a plate of cookies. Soon Vincent Price's mug appeared and began narrating a series of short films based on scary children's books. I continued to draw and munch on cookies, and occasionally looked up at the rather poor acting and special effects being shown on the television.

Dirda On Bellairs

The following excerpts from Michael Dirda in the Washington Post were passed along to us recently. He has a few facts mixed up - and weren't not at all clear on the second half when Bellairs himself chimes in (we think) - but it's nice to see the attention:

2003 Living History Portrayal Walk

Oakridge Cemetery is once again host to A Living History Portrayal on Saturday, October 11. This is a guided, walking tour of Oakridge Cemetery in Marshall, during which actors portray significant persons from the past at each of those individuals' grave sites. The actors, impersonating each individual, will provide factual information about each personage, but in the tradition of the theater - the Marshall Civic Players is one of the sponsors along with the Marshall Historical Society - the evening will be high drama!

Book Alert: 魔法博物館の謎

The Japanese edition of the The Specter from the Magician's Museum (loosely translated as Mystery of the magic museum) will be published this November.

40th Annual Historic Home Tour

John Bellairs's hometown is celebrating 40 years of its Historic Homes Tour on September 6 and 7, 2003.

The Marshall, Michigan home tour continues offering exquisite private homes and businesses for public viewing and enjoyment. The tour will feature eight vintage homes and will include five historic museums covering diverse specialties such as unusual architecture, antique home furnishings, Civil War memorabilia, and a restored antique post office. To close out the tour's sixteen structures will be three businesses from Marshall's well-maintained historic business district. The event takes place every year on the weekend after Labor Day.

For further information call the Marshall Historical Society or the Marshall Area Chamber of Commerce.

Inside the Cronin House (1977)

As a fifth grader growing up in Marshall, Michigan, author Bryndis Rubin had a class interview assignment.  Being extremely fond of John Bellairs' books, she talked her classmates into doing something involving the Cronin House, the inspiration for the house with a clock in its walls. Upon calling the owners, the Misses Elizabeth and Virginia Cronin, she explained the project and was granted a tour and interview.

Book Alert: The Whistle, the Grave, and the Ghost

After two years of staying silent in New Zebedee, the latest adventure of Lewis Barnavelt and company has been released, The Whistle, the Grave and the Ghost. This is the tenth book in the Barnavelt series, coming 30 years after the release of the first, The House with a Clock in its Walls. Cheers to Lewis and Brad.

Authentic Author To Be Cited

Ruth Martin passes word along that John Bellairs will be profiled in the upcoming Favorite Children's Authors and Illustrators, part of a 6-volume reference set aimed at middle-school readers.

John Bellairs: The Spooky Writer Who Cast a Magic Spell

Carol Schaal of the Notre Dame Magazine has written a superb article about John Bellairs, "the wittiest guy in the class of '59", for the magazine's summer 2003 edition:

When the kids finish the latest Harry Potter, some fans of ghosts and spells and things that go creeeeak in the night have a suggestion: Check out the books by John Bellairs.

Bellairs, who graduated from Notre Dame in 1959, became the talk of juvenile fiction in the 1970s with the publication of The House with a Clock in Its Walls. The creepy doings in that book earned it a place as one of The New York Times Best Books in 1973.

He published three separate series of juvenile horror/mystery books until his death of cardiovascular disease in 1991 at age 53. His estate hired Brad Strickland to complete four books begun by Bellairs; Strickland has since continued the series under his own name.

Memoriam: Bernard Markwell

Bernard K. Markwell, "to whom Saint Fidgeta first appeared on rainy day in front of the Oriental Institute in Chicago," passed away July 2. He was 64.

Researching Mary Zimmerman

This past spring we began a series of queries with the Wisconsin Regional Writers' Association (WRWA) about Mary H. Zimmerman. Why, you’re undoubtedly asking? She’s someone John Bellairs met once while visiting Milwaukee for a friend’s wedding back in the early 1960s. John’s friend and the illustrator of his first three books, Marilyn Fitschen, was also on hand with her husband, Dale, and picks up the story from there:

The Old Man of the Mountain

The Old Man of the Mountain, New Hampshire's natural stone profile that looks like a gnarled human face, fell from its mountainside Saturday, May 3.

Book Alert: Le Monstre Sous le Pont

The French edition of the The Beast under the Wizard's Bridge (loosely translated as The Monster Under the Bridge), with cover art by Lalex, is to be published this September. This is book #7 in the Kévin et les magiciens series.

Book Alert: L'Opéra Maléfique

The French edition of the The Doom of the Haunted Opera (loosely translated as The Opera Evil), with cover art by Lalex, is to be published this May. This is book #6 in the Kévin et les magiciens series.