An Atomic Age Hero's Quest to Save the Children - a Blog Tour and Book Excerpt for "Then Came the Summer Snow"

BOOK EXCERPT

Setting the Scene: Herb’s uranium-prospecting Geiger counter went off when Edith placed a glass of milk on the kitchen table next to her young son Herbie. Startled by the loud clicking, Herbie knocked the glass onto the floor. As the glass fell, the milk spilled, forming a Rorschach blot that reminded Edith of a mushroom cloud stretching toward the kitchen. Once the milk was on the floor, the Geiger counter no longer registered radioactivity nearby. Edith is puzzled why the Geiger counter found something radioactive in her house.

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Excerpt:

After she’s finished the dishes, Edith settles in on the sofa, gazing out the front window. The outline of the two-story ‘A’ house across the street is barely visible in the twilight. Edith slips into deep thought, pondering the optimal ingredients for a proper gravy for the pork chops and mashed potatoes for tomorrow’s supper.

That evening’s episode of The Mickey Mouse Club is followed by an ad for Dorothy Gray Salon cold cream. “If you’re looking for a cold cream that’s powerful enough to remove radiation, look no further!” A scan with a Geiger counter confirms that Dorothy Gray cream has indeed removed all

of the radioactive dirt applied to a worried model’s face.

Herb mixes himself a martini: 3 oz vodka and .5 oz dry vermouth, stirred vigorously and long in an iced martini pitcher. With the addition of a dash of orange bitters and a pimento-stuffed olive, it achieves perfection. Edith requests one of Herb’s famous Pink Squirrels: ¾ oz crème de noyaux, ¾ oz white crème de cacao, and 1½ oz heavy cream, mixed in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, strained into a martini glass and garnished with a maraschino cherry. Edith seldom involves herself with the family liquor cabinet, preferring Herb apply his advanced mixology skills on her behalf. In Edith’s view, preparation of alcoholic concoctions is and should remain a man’s realm.

Slurping his martini, Herb fidgets, waiting for the soothing effects of alcohol to kick in. This will be the first time he’ll have raised a health concern at work. He’s consistently endeavored to be a model employee, never complaining, never raising eyebrows. He worries that now he’ll be labeled a troublemaker. “They” might even assign an informant to follow him!

That evening, as Herb and Edith get ready for bed, Edith says, “I just don’t get why you think there’s a bacterial issue with the milk, Herb. I’ve seen the men in their lab coats around town testing the milk. I asked them once what they were testing for. They told me one of the things they test for is bacterial counts.