The Mysterious Disappearence of Leon (17 page)

Harry Tietelbaum
gave up his art career to organize the successful Pomato Soup Workers’ strike. He went on from there to clam chowder, black bean, and chicken noodle; but it was the alphabet soup sit-in that won him a name as a leading labor leader.

Aunt Martha Tinglehof
had her one-man show at the age of ninety-three. Everything worked this time, and she sold several pieces of her kinetic sculpture.

Joel Wells
worked long and hard at his art. Fame was slow in coming, but eventually museums began to buy his work, then private collectors; and finally the critics called him “America’s Greatest Living Painter.” Joel replied, “Grape,” rebuilt the old house into studios, and set up a colony for struggling young artists.

Mavis Bensonhurst’s mother
suffered a broken arm when she was hit by a truck. She was wearing a pantsuit at the time, so no one saw her lace underwear. The driver claimed that his truck had stopped for a light and that Mrs. Bensonhurst had slipped on some dog dung while crossing the street and dented his fender. The truck company sued Mrs. Bensonhurst for damages, and Mrs. Bensonhurst sued the poodle.

Tony Carillon
had a happy life with his pretty wife Rosemary Neuberger and their triplets. He landed in the public’s eye as a lawyer for the poodle in the Bensonhurst case. In later years, he proved a wise and honest judge, especially when there was a jury to make the decision.

Dr. Tina Carillon
, the famous neurologist, was so busy with her research, her private practice, and her free clinic for orphans, that she never had the time or the desire to marry. Tina accomplished something quite rare in the annals of medicine: she not only discovered a new disease (Carillon’s disease), but two years later found the cure for it.

Newton Pinckney
never won an Oscar, but he had a long career as a character actor. He always played the villain.

Jordan Pinckney
flunked out of Yale and became a used-car salesman in Hackensack, New Jersey.

All of our people were happy or famous, or both; except for Jordan Pinckney and Mrs. Bensonhurst (the poodle won). Perhaps the happiest were Mrs. Carillon, Augie Kunkel, and Tony. One might call Mrs. Bertha Baker Banks famous, certainly Tina and Joel; but the most famous of all was the one whose name was known throughout the world:

Christmas Bells
, the horse who came from nowhere to outsprint the sprinters and outstay the stayers, became a legend. Sure with his mares, he sired a great line including the champions Yuletide, Sleigh Bells, and Ding Dong. Each was unbeatable at any distance, but none had the magic of Christmas Bells—the greatest horse of all time.

Ellen Raskin
had three names. She wrote and illustrated many books under her first two names: Ellen Raskin. At other times she was known as Mrs. Flanagan because she was married to Dennis Flanagan, former editor of
Scientific American,
who dumped her out of a sailboat on their honeymoon.

Ellen Raskin was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and grew up during the Great Depression. She is the author of several other novels, including the Newbery Award—winning
The Westing Game
, the Newbery Honor-winning
Figgs & Phantoms
, and
The Tattooed Potato and other clues
. She also wrote and illustrated many picture books, and was an accomplished graphic artist. She designed dust jackets for dozens of books, including the first edition of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic
A Wrinkle in Time
. Ms. Raskin died at the age of fifty-six on August 8, 1984, in New York City.

The word-pictures were drawn and lettered by the author in pen and ink. The display type is Craw Clarendon Condensed, and the text type is Times Roman.

Turn the page
to read the first two chapters of Ellen Raskin’s
Newbery Award-winning novel,

THE WESTING GAME

■ SUNSET TOWERS ■

1

THE SUN SETS in the west (just about everyone knows that), but Sunset Towers faced east. Strange!