THE ASHTABULA STAR-BEACON

EMBELLISHING THE PAST
Historical novel has Saybrook senior as 5-year-old character

By Carl E. Feather
Lifestyle Editor
Friday, October 27, 2000

Dick Beal of Saybrook Township woke up one morning and found himself in a novel. The novel is “The Golden Ring” which was written by his nephew, John Snyder, of Gambrills, Md. The self-published Christmas book made a significant debut in the Washington, D.C. region last Christmas and is set for national distribution in the upcoming holiday season. Several major book chains have added it to their holiday reading inventory and Family Circle magazine is planning a 5,000-word excerpt (release date Nov. 14th.)

Snyder bases his fictional account on real events and people. Beal 79, was the youngest brother of Anna Beal Snyder, the story’s heroine. “She was a very nice lady.” Beal said, recalling his sister, who died in 1999 at the age of 90.  Beal said he had two brothers and three sisters – he is the only surviving sibling.

The book is set in 1918, so Beal had not vet been born when the events that form the basis of the story occurred. But Snyder took the liberty of stocking the family with a full complement of youngsters and made Dick Beal 5 years old in the story.

“It was before I was born, but I’m still in the book,” he said proudly.

Snyder said the book was conceived at the kitchen table of his grandmother’s home in LaVale, Md. in late 1996. He, his wife Ruth Ellen, and their daughters Nikki and Carli, were visiting relatives in the western region of Maryland when John Snyder decided to spend a few hours tape-recording his grandmother’s recollections. They sat down after breakfast and went until early afternoon as she traveled memory lane.

“I asked her what her most precious Christmas memory was and what it was like growing up,” he said.  “One question just lead to another story.”

Anna shared the story of how her father, an engineer on the B&O Railroad, made Christmas so special for her.  He purchased golden rings for his daughters and slipped them on their fingers while they slept Christmas Eve. Anna was 4 at the time. She didn’t notice the ring until her father called it to her attention at the breakfast table.

“As she told it, you got the feeling you were almost there,” he said.

Dick Beal said it is a story he’d never heard his sister tell, which made the book even more of a surprise. He got his first exposure to it when his nephew sent him a first draft.

Snyder was so touched by his grandmother’s story he took a detour on the way back to Gambrills and drove up to Meyersdale, a coal-mining/railroad town in western Pennsylvania. He looked for Anna’s childhood home that had been the setting for the story, but all that remained was a vacant lot. Snyder said he tried to visualize the house and what Meyersdale would have been like 70 years prior. On the way home, a story – part fact, part fiction, part conjecture – began to develop in his mind.

Snyder said he had always wanted to write a book, but his work as the owner of a public relations and advertising firm left little time for personal writing projects. But his grandmother’s touching story moved him so much he decided to make the book a priority. As soon as he got home, he began writing what he thought would be a short story.

Over the next two years, Snyder wrote and rewrote his story, developing characters and adding fictional embellishments to the kernel of truth.  He shared these drafts with family members, including his grandmother and her “baby brother,” and incorporated their feedback into his revisions.

“She saw just about every draft and she saw the final story before I had it printed.” Snyder said.

He also tried to interest a publisher in his story, which he calls a “touching Christmas story about giving, faith, love and loss.”  Publishers, however, felt the Christmas book market was already saturated, despite the story’s merits. Snyder felt so strongly about the book’s potential he was willing to put his own  money on the line. He had 5,000 books printed.  Snyder approached marketing them as he would any other assignment his agency might handle.

I believe if you have a good book it will sell, if you market it,” he said. “I had received so much positive feedback from people I expected criticism from, I knew it was good.”

He self published it in time for the 1999 Christmas season. One of his first stops with the new book was his grandmother’s house, where he presented her with a copy. “She thought it was real nice, an honor to her and her family.” Dick Beal said.

"She was real happy about it,” added Arlene, his wife.

Anna Snyder died several days after her grandson presented her with the book. A copy of  “The Golden Ring” was buried with her.

Snyder went on a whirlwind book-signing tour in the Washington, D.C., area and western Maryland during late November and December 1999. It was the best selling book at Borders Books in Bowie, Md. And Borders Books in Springfield, Va. It led the holiday category in sales at almost all the bookstore that carried it.

“People of all ages, both men and women, have told me they have enjoyed the book tremendously,” he said.

Snyder attributes the book’s success to several factors. “One thing is the time in which it occurs.” He said. “Its takes us back to time when we were more idealistic. It also has interesting twists and turns that all come together.  It’s not complicated, nor is it a long read.”

Snyder Is already calling it a “Holiday classic” and has hopes of it being made into a movie. Not the least bit bashful about promoting it or himself, Snyder maintains a web site for ordering the book and sampling a few chapters (www.thegoldenring.com) and has more than 70 book signings in the mid-Atlantic region this holiday season.

Passionate about not only his book, but the importance of preserving the stories of our ancestors, Snyder encourages children to talk to their elders before it is too late. He said he has collected several other stories form his relatives and believes they hold the potential for future books.

Perhaps one of Dick Beal’s stories will be among them. For example, there’s the story of the Lionel Train he got for Christmas.  Dick kept the train well into his adult life and passed in on to his son Rick Jr., who lives near Boston.

“It had lights in the coaches, even,” he said. “I’ll never forget it.”

"The Golden Ring” (hardcover only) lists for $15.95 and is available from online bookstores and at www.thegoldenring.com.  Web orders placed before Nov.1 get free shipping of an autographed copy.  “The Golden Ring” also should be in chain bookstores this holiday season.