Hero & Villains

In 1925 Eric P. Kelly was awarded the Newbery Medal for his children’s novel The Trumpeter of Krakow. It’s the story of a family of three driven in 1642 from the Ukraine, part of which was under Polish rule for a long time. A band of marauders burned his land and home. He harbored a secret that has been discovered. For centuries his family has been safeguarding the Great Tarnov Crystal, believed to have magic powers, desired especially by alchemists. The father aims to give it to the king. He settles in Krakow with his wife and son, who is in his teens. Thieves follow. He is hired to play the Heynal, to replace the current unskilled musician. The brief composition is played every hour in each direction from the tower of St. Mary’s Church. Legend has it that in 1241 the young trumpeter was killed with an arrow shot by an invader. His warning allowed forces to repel the attack. From then on, to honor the hero, the piece is ended on the broken note he was unable to finish. It is played to this day, although there have been periods when it was not, or when it was played only twice daily. It is broadcast throughout Poland each noon. This 70-year-old kid enjoyed the story despite its being overwritten. The prose and dialogue are only fair, although I realize the author may have been trying to capture the flavor of ancient times. Still, the 239 pages of the Macmillan paperback size hardcover read like a lot less. Born in Massachusetts, Kelly was a scholar at Dartmouth, which led to a two-year stay in Poland as America’s first exchange student. There are 15 titles listed on his Wiki profile page, the one in question his first. He also worked as a teacher. He passed away at 75 in 1960. 110 users at Amazon have rated The Trumpeter of Krakow, forging to a consensus of 4.3 on a scale of five. I’ll go with three. Here’s a link to the tune in question. It runs less than a minute but longer than I expected: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVQbxXvyG7A And here’s a pic of a modern trumpeter of Krakow:

Here’s the front page of today’s NY Post. If only it had the power to change the behavior of those stricken with a huge sense of entitlement:

The rain held off long enough to allow almost a full session of the floating book shop. My thanks to Gary, who donated 50 Magic Tricks: Using Common Objects That Teach Children Strategies for Success by Robert P. Bowman, and to Wolf who bought it in prep for a visit from his grandkids, along with a entry in the Brain Teasers series; and to the two women who purchased three books in Russian between them; and to Shelley, who selected a bunch of kids’ books for her nieces.

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