by Ray Merritt
These three authors are the “happy trinity” of children’s fantasy books that served as the “gospels” to the fictional Ben Baum. As a tribute to them and others that followed, I have used throughout this book references to their stories and the names of their characters, as well as references to other great writers and their works—Carlo Collodi’s Pinocchio, Roald Dahl (the character Dahlgrens, the Zurich bank’s keeper of the keys), Ludwig Bemelmans’s Madeline (the character Sister Clavel), and Kay Thompson’s Eloise books (Eloise Thompson). Those characters in Clamour of Crows again are wholly imagined and bear no resemblance to any persons, living or dead.
Some other borrowed and appropriated characters’ names: Drew is derived from Nancy Drew, the fictional heroine in Edward Stratemeyer’s juvenile mystery series. Dixie is derived from Franklin W. Dixon, the pseudonym of the author of The Hardy Boys. The names Nip and Tuck come from a 1927 children’s book by Muriel Moscrip Mitchell about two beaver kits who lived and played in the woods on their own. Charlotte Williams (née Cavatica) was borrowed from the children’s novel Charlotte’s Web, written by E. B. White and illustrated by Garth Williams. Charlotte A. Cavatica is the name of the spider. Lerot and Lapin, Abelard’s friends, refer to the Dormouse and the Mad Hatter, Lewis Carroll’s creations. Tremaine’s namesake is Lady Tremaine, Cinderella’s evil stepmother. Heckle and Jeckle are named after the postwar animated cartoon characters created by Paul Terry. Snowdrop, the slain albino deer, was named after Alice’s white kitten in Lewis Carroll’s book.
The illustrations in the book deserve acknowledgment. The interior frontis and recto pages are details from an ancient Japanese Edo Period (1615–1665) crow screen owned by the Seattle Art Museum.
My depiction of the Firm’s lawyers is purely fictional. In fact, in my personal experiences, lawyers for the most part are a likable lot. In my time as an associate, none caused me serious agita, but many caused me sleep deprivation. And most of the lawyers as well as the clients I worked with exhibited the highest standards of integrity and professionalism. As with all things in life, however, there are exceptions, and the same goes for the clergy.
Many helped enhance Clamour of Crows. Special thanks go to Paula Glatzer for her enthusiastic support and her enviable attention to detail, to Marie Lillis for her patience and precision in turning my difficult script into type, to Caleb Cain Marcus who so deftly navigated me through the book’s layout and design, to Stephanie Fleetwood for her candor and perception, and to Cathy McCandless and her proofreading team for their extraordinary genius.
I am grateful for the support of all my friends, especially those who read the book in its various drafts and offered perceptive comments and corrections.
And finally, to my wife, Carol, my best friend, my biggest fan and my harshest critic, for her patience, sacrifice, and love. She has always had my back and my love.
RWM