Twelve Days of Bookmas: Jeri Westerson

Jeri Westerson worked as actress, graphic artist, theology teacher, tasting host, tour guide for a winery and newspaper reporter before turning her hand to writing. She is the author of a "Medieval Noir" series featuring hard-boiled detective Crispin Guest, a disgraced knight turned PI who solves crimes on the mean streets of fourteenth century London. 

The Boston Globe called her detective, "A medieval Sam Spade, a tough guy who operates according to his own moral compass and observes with detached humor…this book is pure fun." Booklist said, "…this authentically detailed medieval mystery has an intriguingly dark edge." Jeri's latest in the series, Troubled Bones, was published this October.

Jeri gives us this holiday memory for Day Three of Bookmas and also picks one of her favorite charities: 

 

It was a tradition growing up around this time of year. Though the menorah was glowing brightly in our window, as American Jews, we couldn't avoid the trappings, songs, TV shows, department store décor of Christmas. And hey! I love Christmas carols, both medieval or the more modern variety. Christmas décor and Charles Dickens. And I loved watching the various movies made of Dickens' A Christmas Carol. My sister and I would watch each one together, glorying on English accents and snowy Victorian streets from our sunny southern California living room.

In fact, we watched so much, it became a point of honor—or honour—to be able to recite some rather familiar lines when they came up: "Every fool who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!" Ah, that's the old Christmas spirit! But there were different versions. There was the oldest one they showed from 1938, with Reginald Owen as Scrooge and Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit. It’s not my favorite Scrooge but it is my favorite Cratchit. Gene Lockhart has such a kind face and he is so perfect in that role. My favorite Scrooge is Alastair Sim from 1951. You really believed he changed from crotchety to nice. Of course, there was also the Mr. Magoo version, too, with its great songs and cast of voice actors.

It just wasn't Christmas without at least seeing A Christmas Carol three or four times. And I think back to those days with my sister when we’d sit in the living room in our jammies, watching the old black and white TV, and reciting the lines together. I bet the Spirit of Christmas Future never envisioned that!

And in the spirit of the season, I'd like to put forth a favorite charity of mine. The Trevor Project, a national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Too many kids feel alone, not just this time of year but all year long when even their families turn against them. I can't think of a better charity than one that serves the least of us. As Dickens' said, "Mankind is my business."