Wishin' and Hopin' (15 page)

Thanks to Harper’s publisher, Jonathan Burnham, and my good friend, Barbara Dombrowski, who, coincidentally, on the very same day in January of 2009, both suggested that I write a Christmas story. Nah, I thought. But the next day, I concocted the name Felix Funicello and was off and running.

A writer does his best, then passes off his work to those professionals who edit, design, publicize, vet, sell, and send a finished book into the world. I’m ever-grateful to my editor, Terry Karten, and my
agent, Kassie Evashevski, both of whom encouraged me, laughed at the funny stuff, and nudged me toward making this a better book. Thanks as well to the crackerjack Harper team, especially Christina Bailly, Leslie Cohen, Beth Silfin, Tina Andreadis, Kathy Schneider, Archie Ferguson, Leah Carlson-Stanisic, Lydia Weaver, Jennifer Daddio, and Evie Righter. And once again, a tip of the hat to the HarperCollins sales force, the best in the business.

One of my oldest and best buddies, Bob Parzych, had vivid recall of his mother’s trip to California when her “Sweet Dreams Cream Torte” made her a state finalist in the 1959 Pillsbury Bake-Off. Another good friend, Harry Mantzaris, shared his recollections of the days when his family ran the lunch counter at the old New London, Connecticut, bus station. Bob’s and Harry’s memories provided the springboard from which I plunged into this tale.

Thanks to the following writers and readers who looked at and listened to the various drafts of this story and offered me the gift of their critical feedback:
Doug Anderson, Bruce Cohen, Steve Dauer, John Ekizian, Careen Jennings, Leslie Johnson, Terese Karmel, Chris Lamb, Justin Lamb, Sari Rosenblatt, and Ellen Zahl. Special thanks to Pam Lewis, who helped me solve the dilemma of the novel’s epilogue chapter. (Pam and I have been friends for 25+ years, since the days when we were students in the Vermont College MFA in Writing program.) Special thanks as well to Aaron Bremyer, my loyal, longstanding, and soon-to-depart office assistant, who listened to these chapters first and laughed the hardest. Good luck, Aaron.

Thanks to the many friends and acquaintances who shared their humorous recollections of parochial school, especially Kathy Wyatt, whose memory of a former classmate kick-started my creation of Zhenya Kabakova. And speaking of Zhenya, thanks to the following who helped me with that character’s saucy Russian vernacular: Lukas Casey, Ludmila Casey, Svetlana Lyubisheva, Dima Nigmatulin, and Sveta Nigmatulina. Thanks, too, to Terry Karten
for correcting my high school French. Speaking of which,
merci bien
to Irène Rose, my high school French teacher of some forty years ago, who bears no resemblance to the novel’s flamboyant Madame Frechette but whose positive influence endures.

This novel was fueled by golden crispy shrimp, moo shu chicken, black bean soup, and enchiladas suiza. My thanks to the cooks, servers, and hosts at Mansfield, Connecticut’s Coyote Flaco and Chang’s Garden restaurants, where our writers group meetings are often held.

Finally, a salute to entertainers Annette Funicello, Brenda Lee, and the late, great Dusty Springfield; to songwriters Burt Bacharach and Hal David (“Wishin’ and Hopin’”), Richard and Robert Sherman (“Tall Paul”), and Johnny Marks (“Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree”); to cartoonists Gus Edson, Irwin Hasen, and later Bob Oksner
(Dondi)
; and to Orville “Andy” Andrews (a.k.a. Ranger Andy), host of
The Ranger Station
, a live children’s program on what was then WTIC-TV and is now WFSB-Chan
nel 3, a CBS affiliate. As a Cub Scout, I did, in fact, visit the Ranger Station when I was about Felix’s age. But though local legend has it that Felix’s inappropriate joke did indeed get told on the air, it wasn’t I who told it. Scout’s honor.

Readers who wish to donate to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor of Annette Funicello or others afflicted with MS may do so in these three ways:

• By website: http://www.nationalmssociety.org/wallylamb
  
• By mail: National MS Society, P.O. Box 4527, New York, NY 10163
  
• By phone: 1.800.344.4867