Five Questions: Edgewater author E.R. Beecher

Edgewater resident and Edgeville Buzz reader Ron Beecher recently published a book titled Casco, which takes place largely on the coast of southern Maine has several themes.  In the prologue there is a brutal murder, a hate crime which casts the shadow of expectation over the rest of the story; after that violence is over the story settles down to a rather charming coming of age story, but which becomes edgier as the years pass.  The story jumps back and forth from the 1950s to the late 1990s, giving adult perspective on the events that took place 30 years earlier.  In a way it is a murder mystery, though after police investigation the people involved just wanted to forget that it happened, but they couldn’t, murder changes everything.  A quick read at 179 pages, Casco will run you $2.99 on Amazon and Barnes and Noble, as well as in iBook, Kindle and Nook.
We asked Ron “Five Questions” as part of our short interview series.
Edgeville Buzz:  How long have you lived in Edgewater?
Beecher:  I’ve lived in Edgewater for about 7 years and Andersonville before that since the year 2000, when I moved into the city from the Northern Suburbs, my son and his wife found the apartment for me – they wanted me to move to the city.  It has been good for me.
EVB:  What do you love about the neighborhood?
Beecher:  I love the diversity.  And, there is so much going on in Edgewater and Andersonville.  Tons of great restaurants; interesting shops that we visit nearly every weekend to see what is new; I love seeing familiar faces, it’s a lot like living in a small town, in a way it feels cozy.
EVB:  What was your motivation for writing “Casco?”
Beecher:  Honestly, the seed in my mind was the building, the Grandmother’s house.  The location is based on a place on the New Jersey Coast that I knew as a teenager and later as an adult.  It is a great venue. It’s perched on the top of a high hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean and you can even see New York City from there.  The view is one of the best I’ve seen anywhere.
It’s interesting how a story grows.  I started thinking about this place as I drove back and forth, every couple weeks, between Chicago and the east coast.  I would spend my time in the car thinking about how a story about this house would develop.  Early on I decided that making the story a murder mystery would make it interesting, but that would mean killing one of the characters.  So, I had to create a sacrificial lamb so-to-speak.  And in order to make his death mean something I had to develop him as an individual, a person, someone who would be missed and leave a hole in the lives of other characters, one character’s life anyway.  Knowing his fate made me sad, as I made him real.  The reader will feel this too.
Then about 3 years ago I sat down to write in my spare time.  At one point I was too busy to write and took off about 3 months.  Toward the end of those 3 months I felt I needed to get back to the story.  I felt distinctly that I had left my characters in the lurch and they wanted me to come back and finish their story, they were impatient.  For me writing is pleasurable, natural.

EVB:  Who is your favorite author or book and why?
Beecher:  Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner.  I like his simple, clear style.  He tells a good story in a direct manner, I tried to imitate that style.  It makes for easy, clear reading, providing vivid mental pictures.  I have read Crossing to Safety 6 or 7 times and always find something new – nuances to the plot, the personal relationships, further understanding of the characters, that sort of thing.
EVB:  Do you have future plans to write another, or have you written other books in the past?
Beecher:  Oh yes.  I have the sequel to Casco in mind, also a thriller, and the libretto for an opera based on a story in the Old Testament.  These should keep me busy for a while.  Also, I’d like to see Casco made into a movie.  I’d like to write the screenplay.  I’m working on some short stories too.

What is Halloween? The Traditions, Halloween simbols, Halloween costumes, Halloween ideas

European immigrants took their habits with them when they left for America. Because of the Protestant religion, characterized by a profound rigidity, Halloween was not celebrated with fast in those colonial times. Instead, people in Maryland and the southern colonies used to celebrate Halloween.

Ethnic beliefs and customs of Europeans, American Indians and those of the merged and formed a distinct American version of Halloween. This consists of public events where people sing and dance to celebrate the harvest gathered to share their stories with scary ghosts and dead or to one another and predict the future. Also, participants made their holidays each other sorts of wickedness, which is due to amused.

By the middle of the ninth century, annual autumn festivities even if it is found in several regions, Halloween was still a holiday observed throughout the country.

Towards the end of the century, America became a new wave of immigrants, especially Irish, who helped popularize Halloween. Thus, Americans began to take habits, to costumes and go from house to house for food or coins. So was born the famous "trick or treat" today. At the same time, young women began to devise various tricks involving apple peel and mirrors to find the name of future husband.

Celebration has evolved until it became an opportunity for community gathering, rather than host of pranks, witches and ghosts stories before.

Legend underpinning this celebration is called "Jack's lantern." Formerly, the Irish Jack tricked the Devil to climb into an apple. To prevent revenge, and thus take his soul, drew on the tree trunk cross. Let him down after he obtained the promise that it will not tempt. Jack's death, it was not received in heaven because of evil nature, but no promises because the Devil in Hell. Therefore it came to wander through the world with a lantern made from a hollowed turnip that was holding a firebrand, to light the path. Hence the most famous of Halloween traditions.

Fundamental tradition of Halloween is "Trick or treat", a custom practiced by the children during Halloween. They go from house to house and ask various goodies the question, "Trick or treat?". The custom originated in England, All Saints Day where poor people pies offered in exchange for promises that they would pray for the souls of the dead family. Custom greeting is like our "Trick or does not give us", except that in this case, if the homeowner does not give anything, the children do various tricks.

Another source of Irish tradition this is usually from 1 November. This day, when considered on the first day of winter, spirits of the dead came to earth, thus threatening to take over the bodies of the living. So Good fairies disguised as poor people and went from house to house to ask for help people. Fairies II reward those generous, but not avenge those who wanted to help them.

Halloween is a holiday whose symbol we are increasingly clear imprint in the mind of one year to another. If you know, you have the opportunity to learn more about them, if not, it's time to find out!

Pumpkin is the best known symbol of Halloween. Although North America is associated with, the habit of making lanterns from vegetables has its origins in Britain and Ireland, where used in this Gulia or beet in order to ward off evil spirits from households. This custom came to the United States with the Irish who have emigrated there. Gradually it was associated with harvest time, but in time became the symbol of Halloween.

Witches came to be associated with Halloween because they believe that tonight is a big load of supernatural powers. Or ghosts, spirits and witches are the best known symbols of the idea. As for witches, legends say that they fooling people into retreat in the mountains spells, where it remains trapped forever.

Bats are associated with Halloween because they are nocturnal animals that live in abandoned places, thus being considered evil. Even witches turn into bats to fly and to move more easily at night.

The cat has always been considered an animal with supernatural powers, in many civilizations revered and regarded as having the ability to feel positive and negative energies. Black cat and have been associated more power, considering that even people can be reincarnated spirits in cats. From here, and to consider a symbol of occult black cat was not much, and by association has become a symbol of Halloween.

Masks and costumes are almost always vampires, ghosts and witches. In recent years, however, began to use and kept or masks representing various public figures or cartoon characters. The custom started with the desire of people to protect themselves from evil spirits and demons, ogres and other demonic creatures. In the '50s he began selling these suits in the United States.

The Moon was often associated with spirits and death due to its cycles. Mythology speaks about the moon as the place where souls are withdrawn and the full moon nights are associated with horror stories, the werewolves transform. Thus, it joins the other symbols of Halloween evil substrate.

The symbols are associated certain colors, they always found in representations of this holiday:

    White: associated with night, witches, black cats, vampires, bats;
    orange: associated with pumpkins, fall;
    Purple: associated with night, mystic, supernatural;
    red: blood and associated with evil.