Happy 90th, I.G. Edmonds! ("Ooka the Wise" aka "Case of the Marble Monster")
leno...@yahoo.com
information about him that I can find.)
His full name is Ivy Gordon Edmonds. He was born and raised in Texas.
"Solomon in Kimono," about the tales of the 18th-century Japanese
judge Ooka Tadasuke (Oh-oh-ka Ta-das-kay) was first published in
Pacific Stars & Stripes, was eventually retitled "Ooka the Wise" and
then, in 1966, SBS published it as "The Case of the Marble Monster."
For those who care about accuracy, the afterwords in "Solomon in
Kimono" and "Ooka: More Tales of Solomon in Kimono" make it clear that
many stories the Japanese attribute to Ooka are actually fictional
Japanese folk tales - or sometimes not even Japanese, as in the Aesop-
derived tale of the Stronger Stick! However, the stories in COTMM
which DO seem to have a direct connection to Ooka are: Marble Monster,
Terrible-Tempered Tradesman, Tosuke's Tax, Willow Witness, Wasted
Wisdom, Suspect Statue, First Two Sons, and Death Decree.
There are other stories you will only find in the original books.
In Contemporary Authors: "I. G. Edmonds's interest in folklore began
when he was serving in the South Pacific during World War II.
Impressed by a native chief's story of how his atoll in the Eillice
Islands was created, Edmonds started collecting folk tales in the
countries he visited."
Back cover of CotMM:
"If you were a judge, would you: -punish a man for stealing a SMELL? -
call in a WILLOW TREE as a witness to a crime? -order a barber to give
an OX a shave? Judge Ooka does all these things. And when Ooka
commands, let the thief and the cheat beware!"
http://arb.nzcer.org.nz/nzcer3/english/written/3000-199/wl3197.htm
("Honest Thief" story)
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3886473967607242883
( A 20-minute video - "Honest Thief" - "Junior Great Books Program" -
3rd grade - "The Junior Great Books® program is proven to help
students develop essential literacy skills-reading carefully, thinking
critically, listening intently, and speaking and writing persuasively.
By participating in Shared Inquiry discussion, Great Books students
learn to read for meaning and to support their own interpretation of
the text.")
However, the teacher's constant mispronunciation will put your teeth
on edge.
http://www.story-lovers.com/listsdeathstories.html
("Ooka & the Death Decree")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ooka_Tadasuke
(The real Ooka Tadasuke - includes "Stolen Smell" and "Suspect
Statue")
http://musea.us/MuseaMarch.html
("Tosuke's Tax")
Includes "Dog's Punishment," "Real Mother," and "Pickpockets."
WRITINGS BY THE AUTHOR:
Solomon in Kimono (folklore), Pacific Stars and Stripes, 1956.
Ooka: More Tales of Solomon in Kimono, Pacific Stars and Stripes,
1957.
Ooka the Wise (folklore), Bobbs-Merrill, 1961, published as The Case
of the Marble Monster, Scholastic Book Services, 1966.
The Bounty's Boy, Bobbs-Merrill, 1962.
Hollywood RIP, Regency, 1963.
Isometric and Isotonic Exercises, Monarch, 1964.
Joel of the Hanging Gardens, Lippincott, 1966.
Trickster Tales (folklore), Lippincott, 1966.
Our Heroes' Heroes, Criterion, 1966.
Lassie and the Wild Mountain Trail, Whitman Publishing, 1966.
(With John J. Gribbons) Young Sportsmen's Guide to Gymnastics and
Tumbling, Thomas Nelson, 1966, published as Gymnastics and Tumbling,
Cornerstone Library, 1971.
Rat Patrol: Iron Monster Raid, Whitman Publishing, 1967.
Revolts and Revolutions, Hawthorn, 1969.
Khmers of Cambodia: The Story of a Mysterious People, Bobbs-Merrill,
1970.
Hot Rodding for Beginners, Macrae Smith, 1970.
The Possible Impossibles of Ikkyu the Wise (folklore), Macrae Smith,
1971.
Taiwan: The Other China, Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
Motorcycling for Beginners, Macrae Smith, 1972.
The Magic Man (biography), Thomas Nelson, 1972.
Tailand: The Golden Land, Bobbs-Merrill, 1972.
Drag Racing for Beginners, Bobbs-Merrill, 1972.
Minibikes and Minicycles for Beginners, Macrae Smith, 1973, published
as Minibikes and Minicycles, Archway, 1975.
Mao's Long March, Macrae Smith, 1973.
China's Red Rebel: The Story of Mao Tse-Tung, Macrae Smith, 1973.
The New Malaysia, Bobbs-Merrill, 1973.
Rocket and Jet Engines: How They Work, Putnam, 1973.
Automotive Tune-Ups for Beginners, Macrae Smith, 1974.
Micronesia, Bobbs-Merrill, 1974.
Pakistan, Holt, 1975.
Ethiopia: Land of the Conquering Lion of Judah, Holt, 1975.
The Shah of Iran, Holt, 1976.
The Magic Makers, Thomas Nelson, 1976.
Motorcycle Racing for Beginners, Holt, 1977.
Allah's Oil: Mideast Petroleum, Thomas Nelson, 1977.
Second Sight: People Who Saw the Future, Thomas Nelson, 1977.
The Mysteries of Troy, Thomas Nelson, 1977.
Big U: Universal in the Silent Days, Barnes, 1977.
Islam: A First Book, Watts, 1977.
D. D. Home: The Man Who Talked to Ghosts, Thomas Nelson, 1978.
Buddhism: A First Book, Watts, 1978.
The Girls Who Talked to Ghosts, Holt, 1979.
BMX: Bicycle Motocross for Beginners, Holt, 1979.
The Magic Brothers, Thomas Nelson, 1979.
Hinduism: A First book, Watts, 1979.
Other Lives, McGraw-Hill, 1979.
Roller Skating: A Beginner's Guide, Archway, 1979.
(With William H. Gebhardt) Broadcasting for Beginners, Holt, 1980.
The Oscar Directors, Barnes, 1980.
Mysteries of Homer's Greeks, Thomas Nelson, 1981.
The Magic Dog, Lodestar, 1982.
Ooka the Wise: Tales of Old Japan, Linnet Books (Hamden, CT), 1994.
UNDER PSEUDONYM GARY GORDON
Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, Monarch, 1962.
Robert F. Kennedy, Assistant President, Monarch, 1962.
Sins in Our Cities, Monarch, 1962.
Sex in Business, Monarch, 1964.
The Anatomy of Adultery, Monarch, 1964.
Law and the Marriage Bed, Monarch, 1965.
IN OTHER LANGUAGES
Junglens Musketerer, Winters Foerlag, Kobenhaun, 1966.
DJEVELSK OPPDRAG, Magasinet fur Alle, 1966.
Moerder sind meine Beute, Verlag Friedrich W. Loh (Hamburg), 1969.
OTHER
Also author of more than forty additional novels under five other
pseudonyms.
Lenona.
leno...@yahoo.com
is also based on a real Japanese figure - a clever monk.
"Trickster Tales" takes tales from all over the world, including a
very funny one about Turkey's Nasreddin Hodja. (Would that Edmonds had
made his own collection of the Hodja stories - most translations I've
seen are not that funny, even in a low-key manner.) There ARE bad
problems with TT, though - I was very annoyed when Cap O'Rushes'
clever simile about salt was presented in a less-famous story - yes,
the "new" protagonist was male. Not to mention a Buddha story, IIRC,
in which a complaining woman is made to realize how much worse her
life could be. Sounds OK? Well, one of her complaints is that her
husband beats her! Oh well, we can be sure Edmonds wouldn't include
that today. Just as he wouldn't have made his Ooka stories as sexist
as they were in the "Solomon in Kimono" books - I have no illusions
about women's status in any country prior to the 20th century, but
much of the sexism seemed suspiciously gratuitous. (The SBS publishers
cut out almost all of it for CotMM, but one line they didn't cut was
"It is a very wise law" in "Ooka and the Terrible-tempered Tradesman."
What were the publishers thinking? Especially when you realize what
the mother was upset about?)
Even so, CotMM has always been one of my absolute favorites for those
at the elementary level.
Lenona.
hsch...@aol.com
>
> "Trickster Tales" takes tales from all over the world, including a
> very funny one about Turkey's Nasreddin Hodja. (Would that Edmonds had
> made his own collection of the Hodja stories - most translations I've
> seen are not that funny, even in a low-key manner.)
I like Juliana Ewing's translation -- actually I need to check, it may
have been written by her husband. I bet she helped him polish them,
if so.
--Helen
leno...@yahoo.com
> He was born and raised in Texas.
More specifically, he went to school in Hillsboro, about 50 miles
south of Dallas.
Lenona.
leno...@yahoo.com
> The Magic Dog, Lodestar, 1982.
I found out that book is about the 1890s magician "The Great
Lafayette" and his beloved dog. More on that here, if you like:
http://heritage.scotsman.com/myths.cfm?id=1904252005
Also, one webpage I forgot about (because it's long gone, sadly) was
about a class of elementary students who were read the Ooka cases and
asked if they thought they could be judges. One student said, in
effect "yes, because I'm pretty good at telling when people are
telling the truth or not" but most said "no, because when you're a
judge, you can't take sides until the last minute. It would be too
hard!"
Lenona.