WW2, BASEBALL, & ROCK AND ROLL

I had the best time when I took the family back to Hamilton, MO, my hometown, birth through college (at Mizzou, of course). I loved sharing Hamilton with Joe and our granddaughters. In a library talk, Ellie (short for Helen) dressed in Mom’s (Helen’s) Army jacket when I talked about WITH LOVE, WHEREVER YOU ARE. She changed into her rock ‘n’ roll persona when I read ROCK AWAY GRANNY. But I got to wear my Royals’ jersey as K.C. Batgirl for A GIRL NAMED DAN. Dream come true for this small-town gal!

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WHEREVER (on Earth) YOU ARE

Dr. Frank R. Daley, MD, looks so serious, so angry. This is not an expression I recognize from my childhood. My dad was fun, witty, and always ready to play with his family–football, baseball, basketball, tennis, ping pong, poker.

I believe in this photo he’s deep into Germany, on the edge of a battlefield, sleeping in that tiny tent, where he could never keep warm enough. I think he’s wearing everything he has with him. And I believe he’s vowing that he will do whatever it takes to get back to Nurse Helen Eberhart Daley.

PLAY BALL!

Here in Ohio, we’re celebrating the champion Cleveland Cavaliers! Well done, well deserved, and high time!

I didn’t play much basketball as a kid–only family games of h-o-r-s-e . But I loved baseball. About the time boys came up with the “no girls allowed/for boys only” nonsense, I entered a contest sponsored by the Kansas City A’s (now the Royals) to write in 50 words or less why you wanted to be batboy for the A’s. Since the contest was “For Boys Only,” I signed the entry blank “Dan” instead of “Dandi.” My 50 words won. But when they discovered I was a girl, they wouldn’t let me be batboy!

Missouri Memories…

I grew up in a small town, Hamilton, Missouri. I love that town–and all small towns–in my home state. Not only did I get a great writing foundation (We had to diagram sentences!), but there were stories around every corner. I was in Hamilton Elementary School when I entered my first contest, to write in 50 words or less why you want to be batboy for the Kansas City A’s (now the Royals). I won, but when they found out a girl had won their bat BOY contest, they wouldn’t let me be batboy. A few years ago, I wrote about that victory and defeat in a book called A GIRL NAMED DAN. When the Royals saw that book, they wanted to make it up to me. They flew me to K.C. to be batboy. It was an amazing night.

I’m setting my new middle grade novel in Hamilton. And I’ve used that town, or fictional versions of it, in countless books.

So now a very cool thing is happening. I get to be the keynote luncheon speaker March 17th at the Missouri Children’s Literature Festival in Warrensburg, MO. Students from all across Missouri are bussed in for the event, where they’ll get to attend writing workshops from well-known children’s authors. I can’t wait–my topic: Missouri Memories/Missouri Moments