The importance of baseball in the author’s life is evident in his short story “The Legacy of the Diamond.”
I park the Dodge station wagon in front of Graceland Cemetery, where Chicago history is carved into large granite tombstones. Famous names adorn these structures: Carter Harrison, mayor of Chicago during the “Haymarket Square” riots; Jack Johnson, the first black heavyweight champion; and architect Mies van der Rohe.
The oddest marker sits atop the grave of William A. Hulbert, the dynamic organizer of baseball’s oldest league. It is a baseball-shaped headstone with the names of the eight original National League cities etched into white stone. Legend has it that on a clear summer’s day, the cheers from Wrigley Field a half-mile away carry on a Lake Michigan breeze to the cemetery and keep Hulbert resting in peaceful bliss.
In the book’s first tale, “The Absolutely True Story of the Homemade Beatles Tie,” the 14-year-old author is coming of age in Middle America.
It is the winter of 1964, January to be precise, when our story begins. The United States was still mourning the loss of its dashing young president to a hail of bullets. My family, like so many others, had a difficult time celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas in the weeks following the majestic funeral. My father was deeply touched by John Kennedy’s death. After all, they were the same age, they had fought in the same war, and they were raising their families at the same time. A void was left for my dad’s generation in America that could not be filled.
Herein rest ten short stories (four new, six old). From a boy’s adventure with his grandfather, to a tragedy set in the present day, to a magical Beatles tie made from scratch, these tales were written to captivate readers of all ages. In the book’s first tale, “The Homemade Beatles Tie” turns into something magical when it’s worn to the first dance, turning the author into the most popular guy at the party.
This is the sixth book by Michael J. Bellito. He taught speech and English classes at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and also taught at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois.
His first book was Ten Again, a story about 1960s America. Then came First Time Around, a story about a young boy falling in love for the first time. Next was Abner’s Story, a tale of a senior citizen and two young boys following the Cubs baseball team. The Silent Journey was a nonfiction book about recovering from a stroke. Last is The Hilltop, about a young man’s days in college from 1968 to 1972.