It was Wednesday, September 17, 20014 and 8 members of the Manchester Public Library Mystery Book Club stepped up into the COA van to find Robert Parker’s famous character Spenser where he lived and worked – in Boston and Cambridge.
I had been planning the field trip for more than six months, since February. In August, some of the Mystery Book Club members participated in what we called Spenser Tour #1. I learned a few things about timing and pacing from that experience where we visited about 6 or 7 sites in a relatively small area. This trip, or Spenser Tour #2, was far larger in geographic scope including 12 to 15 sites related to the Spenser novels (all different from Tour #1).
Here is a photo collage that Carol McKenna put together (unfortunately meaning that she wasn’t in these pictures).
Lower Left: We were at the New England Produce Center in Chelsea where Spenser set up mobsters and two radical feminists to be arrested, saving his clients from all kinds of trouble;
Lower Left: We searched Linnaean Street in Cambridge on foot to determine which building was most likely Susan Silverman’s home;
Upper Right: We gathered on the Mass Ave Bridge to read segments of how Spenser and Hawk foiled the kidnapping of Spenser’s client;
And we gathered at the great sculpture in front of the MFA, to celebrate Spenser’s hobby: carving wooden miniatures.
- Kate, Selena, Mike, Susie, Starr, Judy, and Dick (that’s me, with my plan and “script”!) And again, Tour-member Carol’s not in the pic, because she was “shooting” the pic.
So what else did we do?
- Talked about the role of Lynnfield (Smithfield) in the Spenser books and in Parker’s life.
- Walked through Harvard Yard, listening to Parker’s description of the Harvard commencement where Susan Silverman gets her PhD.
- Drove by Robert Parker’s former home in Cambridge and looked at pictures of the interior as it looked.
- Talked about the “Yorktown Tavern” on Mass Ave where Spenser consulted a bookie for clues on two occasions (or more).
- Stopped outside Marty Rabb’s apartment building and discussed what happened there.
- Drove by Spenser’s second office.
- Walked two blocks of Marborough Street trying to identify possible buildings that may have been Spenser’s apartment building.
- Had lunch at the Cafe Taj which, during the early Spenser books, was one of Spenser’s favorite Hotels (it was the Ritz then) for meeting clients, girlfriends, and confidential sources.
- Walked into the Public Garden and read about the showdowns on the footbridge with Joe Broz.
- Stood outside Spenser’s Office #3 – the one that persists from Book 7 throughout the series, and read excerpts relevant to the office description.
- Listened to music in the van on the way in and out – a compilation of selected songs cited by Spenser, usually quoting the lyrics.
Many thanks to Jack Buckley for driving the van with patience and precision to each of our appointed locations.
