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If anyone has contacted me recently, I may be late in responding due to the death of my father. The funeral was Friday.
I will be heading home again tomorrow (Monday) and back to work, but the world - especially my world - won’t be the same without him. He was, as my husband says, a Renaissance Man.
But most of all, he was one great dad … and my greatest fan.
I am understandably in a bit of a state about my dad, but I know that Judy Schachner will understand that in my previous post, I mis-typed the name of her much beloved character, Skippyjon Jones!
She was a bit upset at getting tangled up in her microphone during her (standing ovation) talk at the Washington Library Media Association luncheon yesterday. Believe me,
everybody loved it and the tangles only made her more endearing.
So … my typing fingers malfunctioned. It’s Skippyjon Jones - you’ve got to love that Chihuahua … I mean cat! If you don’t know him - you must!
More about all of this later but now, back to St. Louis.
P.S. I have disabled comments on my blog due to the young age of many of my readers, but feel free to email me through the Contact Me link on my website to comment or ask questions.
It was wonderful to receive the Sasquatch Award in Yakima, Washington on Friday. I met the most wonderful people …. and you’ll hear and see more about that soon. Folr now, thanks so much for the warm welcome. And you’ll hear more about my plane trip with Judy Schachner , yep, that Judy Schachner of Skippyjones Jon!
For now, I am, for the second time in two weeks, spending 24 hours at home and then returning to St. Louis. My father is very ill. He is scheduled to have surgery Tuesday. I was originally in NY to see my wonderful Humphrey editor, Susan Kochan, and paperback editor, Jen Bonnell. When I got a call about my dad, Susan turned her office over to me to make arrangements to hurry to St. Louis. I was there Saturday to Wednesday. There was a lull in his treatment and with Dad’s heartfelt approval, I went to Washington as planned. I got home late last night and am leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow for as long as I need to be here.
No great options here, but Dad is a trouper and a fighter - always.
I’ll catch up when I can. Until then, if I don’t get to your email or request, please understand.
Growing up in St. Louis, any mention of “The Fair” was a reference to the 1904 World’s Fair, held in St. Louis. It commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase. It was a huge event for St. Louis and for my family. My mom’s father was about 11 then and claimed that during the building of the fair, he went from exhibit to exhibit, picking up construction jobs. His story - maybe exaggerated, maybe not - was that he got fired four times in one day.
My father’s mother’s family was enamored of the Fair. Great Aunt Irene once said my great-grandmother went there every day.
The Fair’s claims to fame include the (possible) creation of the hot dog and of the ice cream one. One of the fascinations (and now embarrassments) of the Fair were the exhibits of “exotic” people from around the world. They set up mock villages so visitors could see how these people lived. Great Aunt Kate befriended some of the Igorotes (I believe) from the Philippines, and invited them to the family home for dinner, loin cloths and all. The neighbors were purportedly shocked, but I loved the idea of my family showing the Igorotes their way of life, after months of having people gawk at their lifestyle. I know the family didn’t have a car, though, so I always try to imagine the Igorotes on the bus! They were very popular at the Fair, so perhaps it wasn’t as unusual as it sounds.
Though most of the buildings at the Fair were temporary and torn down, there are still vestiges of it in beautiful Forest Park in St. Louis. There are lagoons and a few structures, including the World’s Largest Bird Cage at the famed St. Louis Zoo, which has been beautiful restored.
I’ve been the Fair recently - at the L.A. County Fair in Pomona, where I spent a day speaking at America’s Kids. Busloads of students on field trips (up to 10,000 a day) are brought there for the exhibits. It was pretty wild, unbelievably loud and I had to compete with forensics exhibits, animal shows and Bob the Builder! But I had a great time and met some terrific students who were also good listeners.
MOVIE RECOMMENDATION: Meet Me In St. Louis - a beautifully done Judy Garland musical perfect for the whole family, with great music and a heartwarming story. Obviously, it’s one of my favorites.