September 9, 2003

Boise State's Idaho Center for the Book Releases Author Card Game

What Idaho author once served as a Parma city councilman? What Nobel Prize-winner had a cat named Boise? What filmmaker was also noted for her critically acclaimed novel?   The answers to these (Edgar Rice Burroughs, Ernest Hemingway and Nell Shipman) and other questions are found in a new version of the classic card game Authors, updated and customized for the Gem State. Idaho Authors was created by the Idaho Center for the Book, an affiliate of the Library of Congress housed at Boise State University. Cards sell for $9.95 a set and are available at the Boise State Bookstore by clicking here Featuring 11 writers who were born or maintained residences in Idaho, the card game is played much like the original Authors. Interesting facts about authors are listed on sets of four cards, and players attempt to match up the most sets, or “books.”  By reading the cards, players will discover that: Click on the author names below to see a .pdf file of the respective cards. Boisean Glenn Balch (1902-1989) was a prolific writer of adventure stories targeted primarily at teen-age boys. His book Indian Paint was made into a feature film starring Jay Silverheels (who played Tonto in The Lone Ranger) and Johnny Crawford (from the TV series Rifleman). Carol Ryrie Brink (1895-1981) based the heroine of her Newbery Medal-winning novel Caddie Woodlawn on her grandmother’s pioneer experiences. Brink was an Idaho native from Moscow. Edgar Rice Burroughs (1875-1950) worked on a ranch in Raft River Valley, operated a stationery store in Pocatello, was a gold dredge operator in the Stanley basin and was a city councilman in Parma before writing Tarzan of the Apes. Vardis Fisher (1895-1968), born in Annis in eastern Idaho, penned the novel that inspired the Robert Redford film Jeremiah Johnson. Fisher later lived in Hagerman and was a former teacher at the College of Idaho (now Albertson College) in Caldwell. Mary Hallock Foote (1847-1938) was as well known for her illustrations as for her writing, which focused on Coeur d’Alene. She is best known today as the central character in Wallace Stegner’s prize-winning novel, Angle of Repose. Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) wrote much of his novel For Whom the Bell Tolls in Sun Valley and had a cat named Boise. He and his wife Mary were living in Ketchum when he died. The wallpaper pattern from poet Ezra Pound’s (1895-1972) home in Hailey is used to back each card in the deck. One of the 20th century’s most controversial poets, Pound was an admirer of the Italian dictator Mussolini. Grace Jordan (1892-1985) felt parents should provide opportunities for hardships for their children, so she did. She wrote about many of her family’s adventures in Hell’s Canyon, near their home in Grangeville. She was married to Idaho Gov. Len Jordan. Nell Shipman (1892-1970) made several films from her wilderness film studio on the shores of North Idaho’s Priest Lake in the 1920s. She later published Abandoned Trails, a thinly fictionalized novel of her Idaho experiences. Edward Elmer Smith (1890-1965) helped create the science fiction genre of writing. His interest in extra-terrestrial activity began at the University of Idaho, where he received a chemical engineering degree in 1914. George Lucas is said to have been inspired by Smith’s writing when scripting the film Star Wars. James Floyd Stevens (1892-1971), raised and educated in Weiser, not only penned Paul Bunyan, he’s also noted for the literary manifesto Status Rerum, co-authored with H.L. Davis. Boise State designer Kathy Robinson created the colored renderings of the artists used on the cards. -30- Contact Tom Trusky English 208 426-1999 Media Contact Kathleen Craven Boise State communications and marketing 208 426-3275