John, Paul, George & Ben

[Laura Dickerson <lauradi erols com>]

  Don Morrison noted that a recent picture book by Lane Smith had a
section about Paul Revere's experiences ringing at Old North.  I have
now read this book, and I'm not really pleased.
  "Paul was a noisy lad.  Before fun was invented, people joined
bell-ringing clubs.  As a member at Boston's Old North Church, Paul
spent hours practicing in the belfry tower.  Over time, that
bell-ringing took a toll on young Paul.  All day his head was filled
with loud bings and bongs.  He had to practically scream just to hear
himself talk."
    Apparently this is what made him suited for the job of riding around
the countryside telling people that the regulars were on the way.

   If you go to the web site
http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/
you can see a Paul Revere bobble head doll that I feel is inferior to
the one we have in the ringing room.
If you click on "ye olde fun" (on the left side of the main page), there
is a game that involves making a bell ring without accidentally clicking
on the liberty bell.  All the non-cracked bells are at the same pitch.
It requires quicktime and didn't always work right when we tried it.

   Mr. Smith lives in Connecticut.  I'm planning to email and invite him
to see the real bells. I've done this with other authors/illustrators
who've mentioned the Old North bells, but nobody has shown up yet.

Laura Dickerson