Editor’s Note: This story contains mature language. Please be advised.
12:27pm | Children are heading back to school, and the holidays are just around the corner, so you may be beginning to wonder what new delight you can find to impress your kid. Maybe there’s a fancy new electronic game, or perhaps some sophisticated action figure, but wouldn’t you like to share something a bit more home grown, and original, this year?
Consider, then, a book. Thomas Wasper, by day a professional photographer of some renown, has, for the last three years, worked steadfastly on a newly published slender volume titled “Famous Killers for Early Learners.” He’s lovingly crafted brief bits of verse for each of the book’s subjects, and included a biographical outline that details each killer’s accomplishments.
Additionally, he’s drawn on the talents of some local artists to create beautifully rendered illustrations that depict various aspects of the story, some rather fancifully. He’s also thoughtfully included activity pages with jokes, fun facts, a word scramble, and a maze.
“I was actually working on the idea of using famous killers’ love poetry as a line of romantic greeting cards,” said Wasper. “A friend got wind of what I was up to and asked me to write poems for her children’s book, with the theme being serial killers, for her writing class. I get the feeling she just wanted to fuck with her teacher. She received a failing grade and I got the inspiration to expand the project.
“Manson [wrote poetry], of course, and John Hinckley wrote poetry to Jodie Foster, although he was more of a would-be assassin since his attempt at Reagan failed. John Wilkes Booth, King Henry Vlll, and Sid Vicious [all wrote love poems].”
Wasper’s own poems have a lyrical whimsey that, at their best, capture the essence of their subjects.
“I’m particularly fond of Charles Guiteau,” mused Wasper, “because he was so ridiculous in everything he ever did. He assassinated President Garfield, then sent an advance letter to the Commanding General of the United States Army, William Sherman, asking for protection. His last words were a poem he had written the night before his hanging. He mentioned that it would make a lovely song if anyone cared to put his words to music.”
Here, then, is Wasper’s verse about Guiteau:
“Charles Guiteau, for right or wrong,
Tried to keep his party strong.
Just before his neck grew long, he said,
‘Hey wait! I’ve got a song!'”
“I also like the Elizabeth Bathory poem,” Wasper continued, “because I think its pretty, and it made me laugh when I wrote it.”
Like Wasper’s poetry, the illustrations bring a certain charm to the otherwise grim stories. I asked him about the artists, and the process.
“The artists I worked with on the book were amazing,” Wasper enthused. “Robert Adams Malin did the bulk of the work, and Joe Allard and Jenny Stockdale both contributed some truly outstanding pieces!
“I knew what I wanted in most cases. With some, I trusted the artist’s vision. Jenny Stockdale blew me away with her ‘Brain Maze’ illustration for the activities pages. I told her what I wanted but, man, she just exceeded my expectations with that one!”
One of my favorite illustrations is of our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln.
“Yeah, I love that one,” said Wasper. “You have to know the history between Lincoln and Booth to get the joke in that illustration. Booth was the most famous actor in America at the time. I guess he was like George Clooney or Brad Pitt. And Lincoln, being such a fan of the theatre, would of course have known of Booth’s work. Lincoln actually saw Booth perform at the very theatre where Booth shot Lincoln. The illustration depicts Lincoln reading fanzines in bed surrounded by posters of Booth hanging on his wall.”
I asked Thomas if it was difficult to narrow the scope of the book, and how he selected his subjects for inclusion.
“I did research on various killers,” Wasper explained. “What I needed was a clever idea to condense their entire existence into 4 lines of poetry. Bathory and Booth were pretty easy. Some of them took awhile. There were many killers I wanted to include that didn’t make the cut through no fault of their own, but because I just wasn’t clever enough to get to the core of their lives or deeds with a poem. At some point, money became an issue as well, and I had to stop with what I had and get it out.
“I kind of regret that I didn’t get any Old West killers into this book, [such as] Doc Holiday or John Wesley Hardin. Maybe the next addition.”
Even though there’s a long and respected tradition of macabre humor aimed at children, I asked Thomas if kids were the book’s target market.
“It’s for anyone that is fascinated with famous killers and likes a good laugh at the same time,” Wasper replied. “Kids? I don’t know. Why not? It’s history. It’s educational. You do learn some pretty interesting things in my book. And it’s funny.”
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“Famous Killers for Early Learners” is for sale at Fingerprints Music, located at 420 East 4th Street, and online at Amazon.com.