Linda Ward’s tale of a wise visiting alien brings the wonders of the natural world alive.
By: Susan Van Dongen
When author and environmentalist Linda Ward lived at Reed’s Beach in Cape May County some 17 years ago, things were quite different.
"It was like a John Steinbeck setting, houses on stilts, wildlife everywhere, places that were abandoned but filled with birds just low key, funky and magical," Ms. Ward says.
As times changed, developers swooped in on the properties along the Delaware Bay, razed the earthy fisherman’s shacks and old cottages. Now the area has a completely different, upscale atmosphere. But humans of a modest socio-economic group aren’t the only ones who have been displaced.
Ms. Ward laments the fate of the horseshoe crabs that once covered the beaches during mating season, leaving millions of eggs behind food that fueled the long distance migrations of birds such as the Red Knot, now also dwindling in population. There’s a controversial battle between environmentalists who want to protect the ancient crabs, and fishermen who harvest the animals for various reasons including research on their "blue blood."
The author, who now lives in Point Pleasant, Pa., saw this coming 15 years ago, and worked it into the story line of her book Professor Angelicus Visits the Big Blue Ball (Mumblefish Books, $19.95).
"When I had my beach house, I remember the horseshoe crabs were all over the beach," Ms. Ward says. "There were plenty of poachers at the time, people knew it was happening, but no one was dealing with it. I sort of predicted the current troubles in my book."
The book was fueled by Ms. Ward’s lifelong love for the Delaware River and Bay. She also wrote it for her grandson, Zachary, now 17, whom she describes as "one of those magical children very spiritual."
Targeted to middle readers but meant for "ages 3-93," The Big Blue Ball delivers a strong environmental message driven by the author’s recognition of the interdependency of all living things. Ms. Ward brings to life a wise visiting alien, Professor Aquius Botanicus Angelicus, who takes two children and their dog on the voyage of a lifetime, riding in a spaceship-like bubble. The purpose of the trip is to find pure water to fuel the professor’s trip home to his own planet.
In a playful but non-pedantic way, the book imparts messages of environmental responsibility to our fragile planet as well as the wonders of the natural world. It’s won praise from readers of all ages, as well as educators and environmentalists. Maya K. van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, complimented Ms. Ward for her writing as well as her sensibilities.
"(Linda) has appreciated the beauty and woes of the river her whole life," she writes. "Through this book, she shared its magic."
To research The Big Blue Ball, Ms. Ward and her husband drove up and down both sides of the Delaware River over the course of three years, stopping to take notes on the waterway’s variety of personalities, flora and fauna. Since this was before the flowering of the Internet, the author did her research the old fashioned way at the library.
The manuscript looked like it was really going to take off, and there was even talk of turning it into a movie, complete with original songs by Ms. Ward and her husband, Palmer Ward, both songwriters. But this was the early ’90s BHP (before Harry Potter). At 200 pages, The Big Blue Ball was thought to be too long for a young person’s book by various publishers. The movie deal fizzled and after a series of rejections, Ms. Ward shelved her manuscript.
The project was resurrected years later when Joe Hoey, a realtor in Cape May County who also happens to be a poet, admired Ms. Ward’s dog Nunzio, as well as her bayside home, which was for sale. Their chance meeting opened the door to publication.
"I was at the beach with my dog and a car stopped," she says. "The person came over and asked, ‘What kind of a dog is that?’ We started to talk and he said he was a poet who had just published a book. I jokingly suggested, ‘Maybe you would like to publish my book, too.’ He took the manuscript home and fell in love with it, put the money out and published it. He also bought my house."
A natural-born writer and native of Philadelphia who is curious about earth-based and Native American cultures, Ms. Ward wove in quite a few references to personal spirituality, how the air and water, plants, trees, animals and even rocks are sacred and alive. There’s a passage when the group is in their spaceship/bubble and the professor has the children align their energy with the universe. They feel a mammoth change in their consciousness, an expansive, magical connection to the elements, earth’s living creatures and even the stars.
Interestingly, the professor doesn’t instruct the dog to align himself with the universal energy. The wise alien points out that animals are already a few steps ahead of humans in that respect.
"I was trying to get readers to be more in touch with their senses," Ms. Ward says. "The characters are looking for the sparkle in the water but also the light within themselves."
Professor Angelicus Visits The Big Blue Ball by L.B.B. (Linda) Ward is available through www.mumblefishbooks.com and www.professorangelicus.com