There's
something about secret tunnels.
I
was weaned on the Hardy Boys mysteries. I believe that my parents had
somewhat loftier hopes for my reading. But when I showed a dim
enthusiasm for the grander works of literature, they were happy to
simply have me read, so they introduced me to the Hardy Boys, of
which my dad still had a few copies left over from his boyhood.
I enjoyed the stories (and was a little in love with
Joe Hardy's girlfriend). But what I remember best were the book's
covers.
They
were classic over-the-top scenes of drama, like the dime novel pulp
covers from the '40s and '50s but without the sexy women in lingerie. This
was far beyond simply judging a book by its cover. I have to assume
that uncountable boys like me bought the books for their
covers.
One
cover theme that was featured on many of the books in the series was
the secret passage, the secret door, the secret panel... all of which
invariably led, by my boyhood calculation, to a secret tunnel.
Now,
I live in an area with real tunnels! We have the Cave Rock tunnels,
many old mining tunnels, railroad tunnels, natural underwater tunnels
through which you can dive, old flume tunnels. We also have the
600-foot tunnel at the Thunderbird Lodge on the East Shore, built by
the eccentric, super-rich George Whittell.
George's secret tunnel
allowed him (and his lion named Bill) to travel unseen from his
mansion to the boathouse of his Thunderbird boat, the beautiful old
woodie that still goes half the speed of light and looks even faster.
We also have the Cal Neva Lodge in Crystal Bay where owner Frank
Sinatra had tunnels built to allow him, Dean Martin, Marilyn Monroe,
and other pals to escape their fans and paparazzi while they moved
about the Tahoe property. There are rumors, too, that a few other
Tahoe mansions, old and new, have tunnels.
You
can even take tours of many of these tunnels, secret and
not-so-secret.
Whether
a tunnel bores through Tahoe granite or simply tantalizes from the
cover of a book, there's something about secret passages. And
tunnels, hidden from the world, are the epitome of secret.
Perfect
subjects for a mystery writer.
Maybe
Owen and Spot will one day encounter a secret tunnel.
Is this a hint about the next Tahoe book????
ReplyDeleteMaybe not the next book, but a future book for certain!
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