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A good game of dominoes calls for concentration as members of
the Fellowship Club for Senior Citizens try to win over their op-
Keeping kids in the backyard
By Vivian Brown
AP Newsfeatures
Luring your children to the
backyard might be easy, but can
you keep them there?
Yes, if interesting play materials
Thriller writer hard put
to beat life to punch
By I*hil Thomas
AP book editor
NEW YORK (AP) — A thriller
writer’s lot is not an easy one.
Trying to come up with a sen
sational fictional caper that hasn't
already been pulled off in real life
is tough.
Says John Godey, whose specialty
is writing thrillers, “with one wild
thing after another happening these
days, I’m honestly convinced that
there’s nothing people won’t do
now, and it’s scary. Some guy
usually pulls off something sen
sational before a fiction writer
thinks of it.”
But Godey manages. Not too long
ago he came up with “The Taking
of Pelham One Two Three,” a
best-selling novel about the
hijacking of a New York City
subway train. Now, in “The
Talisman,” his new novel, a band
of radicals steals the remains of the
Unknown Soldier of World War II
and holds them for ranspm.
Godey, a relaxed “just turned 64
and even though I may not look it
I feel it,” says he got the idea for
“Pelham” while trying to think up
a story set in New York City. “I
was born in New York, I know it.
and even though my wife and I
now live in West New York, N.J.,
I’m really a New Yorker.
“Well," he adds with a smile, “I
was trying to come up with
something sensational, when this
idea about hijacking a subway just
came to me out of the air. A lot of
these ideas are just floating around
in the air, you know, and guys like
myself just reach up, grab them,
and write them."
With “Pelham,” which Godey
says sold about 50,000 copies in
hard covers and had a printing of
about 1.5 million in paperback,
behind him. Godey wanted to come
up with something "equally sen
sational.” The result was “The
Talisman.” “I wasn’t sure of the
idea at first,” he says, "because I
wasn't too sure it would work. It
was a judgment I had to make, and
I made it. After all, if you're an
experienced writer of thrillers, you
have to know how to make things
work.”
Prior to “Pelham,” writing for a
living was "hard going" for Godey.
“I was about 20 when I sold my
first short story. My payment was
two copies of the magazine that
used it," he recalls with a laugh.
“The first time I sold a story for
real money was in the late 19305. I
got $25. That was a red letter
day."
After Army service in World War
11, Godey returned home deter
mined to write for women’s
magazines. “There were a lot of
them around in those days,' he
recalls, “and they paid well for
short stories. I thought it might
help to change my writing name.
are provided — at least there is
less chance of boredom. And
there’s a bonus — the well-plann
ed play yard can be a minivaca
tion for parents.
A group of Chicago women, all
My real name is Morton
Freedgood. Around the turn of the
century, there was a fashion
magazine called 'Qadeyss Ladies
Boole,’ so I named myself John
Godey.”
Godey — nine of whose 11 books
are thrillers — published his first
novel in 1947, “The Gun and Mr.
Smith."
"It did pretty well,” he says. “It
sold about 9,000 copies, which was
a lot for a thriller in those days.
Nice thing was that I also sold the
serial rights to a magazine and
made $5,000, which was a pile of
money in those days. It carried me
for better than two years.”
But when the money ran out
Godey went out and got a job.
“I’ve had jobs on and off,” he says.
“I’d work at them — usually
writing publicity — until I’d saved
a little money, then quit and write
my books. When I went broke, I
went back to work. The nice thing
was that I was alwavs able to find
a job again.
“It was pretty hard going up to
‘Pelham.’ But it really hit it and 1
made enough off that book to relax
a bit. Believe me, it was a relief
after all those years of scratching.”
Godey’s idea of relaxing was to
take about two years to write “The
Talisman," instead of hurrying
“the way I have all my life to get it
out so I can get some money
coming in. Sure, most professional
writers write because they want to
but they also write because they
have to.”
He isn't writing at the moment,
“just playing around with an idea.
It's nothing solid yet. But I do
want to write another thriller, and
I do want to set it back in New
York.”
“The Talisman” is published by
Putnam.l
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'Domino Kings'
ponents. Calling themselves the “Domino Kings" are (1-r) Jim
McGiboney, Ed King, Walt Stone and George Grove.
mothers, who conduct a project,
Parent as Resource, have publish
ed a number of little books on
child-parent play. One book,
“Backyard Vacations,” has a
number of good ideas for cap
tivating the imagination of
children in outdoor play.
The four women members of
PAR travel over the United
States to provide information to
educational groups on parent-child
play relationships. They also have
conducted television programs on
the subject.
An outdoor play area can be as
inexpensively simple as large
boxes, old tires, bricks, a long
board, rope and some old pots
and (pans, -the book points out.
You don’t need fancy equipment
unless you want it. Low picket
fencing may confine the area in
an attractive way but it isn’t
really necessary.
For example, for a sandbox, fill
an old tire with sand and add
pots and pans, empty milk
cartons, unbreakable utensils. A
balance board may be made by
placing a long board over it. A
knotted climbed rope from a tree
branch can be fun. A swing
using two pieces of sturdy rope
with a tire or board for a seat is
another good idea.
An old barrel can become a
tunnel by opening both ends or
several boxes could be linked for
a long tunnel.
Large packing boxes are ideal
for playhouses or “pretend
places” — grocery stores, school
houses, fire stations or even ticket
windows. A parent should help
with projects which involve
cutting window or door space
with a knife.
“But parents really do not need
to get involved much if the
materials are safe. Sometimes it is
a question of getting youngsters
off to a good start,” said Carolyn
Haas, one of the PAR group,
who have 15 children among
them, “and we’ve tried practically
everything we suggest with our
own children,” she added.
The little dollar book also tells
how to conduct a backyard carni
val, a pet show (any animal is
welcome) neighborhood toy fair, a
scavenger hunt. It also provides
directions for various simple
crafts.
Instructions for a cookout in
clude simple formulae for a fire.
One involves a large juice can,
screening and a wire rack. An
Indian-style pitfire, a shallow hole
encircled with rocks or bricks is
an interesting U-shaped fire.
Camping out doesn't even
require a tent. An old blanket
thrown over a clothes line and
weighed down with rocks might
be all that is necessary.
A playhouse could be a whole
summer’s intrigue for most kids
as parents may remember from
their own childhoods. It requires
a group and can keep all the
neighborhood children busy and
also can be a great ice-breaker in
a new neighborhood.
A do-it-yourself parent might
build a little table and a couple
of benches for use in the back
yard play area. It would be a
good place for children to have
snacks, cookies, lemonade or
whatever.
In providing a play area for
youngsters, choose a partially
shaded spot, one with a big tree
or an overhang from the house.
For small tykes, a tub of water
can be a lot of fun to sail boats
(made out of little cartons) and
for splashing.
A shower might be rigged up in
the yard if there is a run off for
water that will not dampen the
play area. A water hose can be
lots of fun if there is no shower,
but a hose may need adult
supervision, if there is a
possibility that older, more mis
chievous children are likely to
seize the opportunity to use the
water spray as an irritant.
HARD WATER VS. SKIN
NEW YORK (AP) — Accord
ing to the British Medical Jour
nal, hard water may cause hands
to become dry and sore. It is the
mineral content of the water,
particularly calcium hardness
compounds, that acts as irritant.
Because more soap must be used
with hard water to obtain a
lather, this can be a further
source of irritation.
To counteract these effects, the
Journal recommends installing a
domestic water softening system
which removes the troublesome
calcium. A similar improvement
can be achieved by the use of
some packaged water softeners.
THE COVINGTON NEWS — THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1976
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