E.W. Hildick: A Follow-Up

So yesterday I wrote a little about E.W. Hildick, author of the McGurk Mysteries, advocating that kids ought to take themselves seriously so the adults around them will as well.

Strong evidence of that – as well as their physical location – comes in The Case of the Nervous Newsboy.

First, Kids Taking Themselves Seriously.

The Case of the Nervous Newsboy tells the story of Simon Emmet, who disappears the day the McGurk Organization uses him as a patsy for their shadowing a suspect practice. They, of course, take on the challenge of finding out what happened – deciding to find out whether Simon had had a fight with a parent the morning of his disappearance.

Here’s what Hildick says, through narrator Joey Rockaway:

“Mrs. Emmet didn’t say there’d been a fight of any kind,’ [said Patrolman Cassidy]. “But then, parents don’t always know when they have been in a fight with their kids. They just lay down the rules and sometimes a high-spirited boy or girl will object, but the parent won’t listen. To the parent it isn’t a fight, but to the kid it really is.”

We nodded. I was thinking: No wonder they send Patrolman Cassidy around the schools He really understands . . . 

Then there’s this:

Well, McGurk was being very unfair there. Hadn’t we seen for ourselves the policemen knocking on doors the day before? But when McGurk takes a dislike to anyone doe does get unfair. And his biggest dislikes are those he takes to people who give him the brush-off when he’s trying really hard.

While the latter could describe both kids and adults, given this from a kid’s perspective – when kids really do get the brush-off a lot, I think this is strong evidence of one of Hildick’s themes: Kids taking themselves seriously so others around them will.

Now, Location of, McGurk Organization.

I wrote yesterday about a vague sense that the series was set in the greater New York area, based on some clues. The Nervous Newsboy cements the New York area pretty solidly:

“If he’d [Emmet][ left the bike and taken the money, I’d have said he was counting on going a long way [McGurk said]. Like Clark Timperley when he ran away last year. Hitching as far as New York so as not to leave a clear trail. Then taking a Greyhound bus up into New Hampshire.”

Doesn’t get more clear than that.

E. W. Hildick: Helping Kids Take Kids Seriously

One of the things I love the most about E.W. Hildick’s “The Case of the Felon’s Fiddle” is that it’s not some penny-ante neighborhood crime the McGurk Organization is worrying about here.

We’re talking $250,000 in stolen diamonds. That’s something that would even make Encyclopedia Brown gulp.

And what’s even better is that the case lands with McGurk by happenstance. Had that violin been purchased by anyone else, Fiddler Knight’s clues would have gone unnoticed, or at least unappreciated for what they are.

Hildick shows kids can do what adults can do when kids use their brains and their curiosity. Hildick also shows with this story if kids approach the adult world with their brains and with enough courage to insist adults treat them seriously, they can do what they set out to do.

And it’s all done with the aim of telling a good story, not necessarily carrying that societal message – which is even better.

Maybe this person says it better:

What makes the McGurk organisation so unique is the sheer normality of the events they investigate. Hildick, in all his books for children, realises how a child sees deep meaning in events that seem trivial to an adult. And in their way, dealing with minor thefts, incidents of bullying, and unjust accusations by parents and teachers, the McGurk organisation do a great deal to improve the world around them. Your kid sister's baby doll goes missing, leaving her heartbroken? Your pet cat is accused of killing the neighbours' homing pigeons? Your brother is accused of vandalising garden ornaments? Call McGurk.

(I question this blogger’s (Kevin Burton Smith) knowledge of McGurk and his friends, however, as he suggests erroneously, that The Case of the Secret Scribbler is the only time the McGurk Organization faces an adult-level crime, when clearly that’s not the case (The Felon’s Fiddle and The Snowbound Spy also fit that category). Also, it’s clear in the books, particularly The Felon’s Fiddle, that Hildick set his books in the United States, not England as this blogger assumes.) Hildick clearly states the fiddler’s crimes take place in Manhattan, and that he had less than a day to hide the jewels from his heist, clearly putting the McGurk Organization in the Greater New York area.

And to flip that coin, Hildick demonstrates the problems kids might face – a pet cat is framed for killing a neighbor’s dove, a sibling’s doll goes missing – can be treated with the same seriousness as a jewel heist by those who use their brains and skills to solve crimes, no matter that the stakes are a lot lower.

Hildick’s gift is that he takes kids seriously, and shows them they can be taken seriously, even when they get fooled by an “invisible” dog.

So I will keep reading them.

The Case of the Absent Author, Or Who is E.W. Hildick?

IRONY ALERT:  Shortly after I wrote this post, I noticed Hildick wrote a book called "The Case of the Absent Author" in 1995.

Oh, that Internet. It can find you just about anything these days.

But as for information on one of my favorite authors from childhood, there’s not a lot out there.

I’m talking E.W. Hildick – Edmund Wallace Hildick – who brought us the wonderful Jack P. McGurk of the McGurk mysteries series (I won’t hold the latter ones, where they indulge in time travel, against him).

His Wikipedia page? Not a lot.

Wikipedia helpfully provides a link to a “family page” where Hildick is mentioned – but he’s mentioned in passing:

I’m not sure when Edmund when to America but he is well known as an author of childrens fiction as any Internet search will tell you.

Hardly illuminating.

A search of Google Book reviews comes up with something that’s nary a surprise: A review I wrote of Hildick’s book “Manhattan is Missing.” Flattering, but hardly informative.

While the European Union is struggling with the internet “Right to be Forgotten,” Edmund Wallace Hildick seems to have accomplished that with little more than staying off the Internet and having a family far more interested in genealogy than becoming Internet famous.

He even appears to have written a book on writing – Thirteen Types of Narrative – you’d think anyone with the gumption to write such a book would have more information available out there. But no.

Even the book nerds at Goodreads (I’m one of them) have struggled to find information on the man, viz his author profile there.

Thomas Pynchon should have this ability to remain out of the limelight.

He may have reasons. And if so, that’s fine. But is there a reason to conceal the reasons? Is there any concealment at all?

Maybe it’s because he’s a “children’s” author. Not significant enough. But I doubt that. There are a lot of McGurk fans out there. Surely I can’t be the only fan boy wondering where all the Hildick information is.

Jack McGurk – Jonathon Prudence McGurk, according to Wikipedia – has a longer page than his creator. And since the Wikipedia article doesn’t cite sources for McGurk’s full name, I have to doubt its veracity. And the “Kiddie Pulp” section at The Thrilling Detective Web Site has more information on the books. But NOTHING about their author.

Why?

And more importantly, why am I whining about this today? Well, I found a copy of Hildick’s “The Case of the Nervous Newsboy” at the thrift store last night, and it got me to thinking about Hildick all over again.