BOISSEVAIN BOOKS | Board Meeting July 2018

The annual meeting of Boissevain Books LLC was held at 28 Third Avenue in Ottawa and also at the Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa, July 14, 2018.

Board Meeting of Boissevain Books LLC, July 14, 2018, in Ottawa, Canada. L to R: John Tepper Marlin, Managing Partner; Christine Schintgen, Observer; Myles Dunn, Observer; Marguerite Marlin, Recording Partner. Not shown (behind the photographer): Randal Marlin, Nick Marlin, Alex Marlin,
Alice Tepper Marlin (Observer and Photographer). Missing board member: Brigid Marlin.

KERSTI | Rights Trail

Rights are Asserted in the following book by Hilda van Stockum through 2056 or 2076, depending on prevailing copyright law.

1. Kersti and St. Nicholas: COPYRIGHT in name of VIKING PRESS 1940. Originally published by Viking Press. Registration was made October 18, 1940. The book is described as having been published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 11, 1940. Recorded in the Register of Copyrights at the Library of Congress by the Commissioner of Patents, November 4, 1940.

Historical note: Hilda van Stockum was born in Rotterdam, Holland and saw her country invaded on May 10,  1940 and her home city bombed to the ground by the Nazis a few days later.

The shock of this for her and her mother Olga Boissevain van Stockum must have been agonizing.

Her book describes a little Dutch girls who persuades St. Nicholas to give presents to the naughty children as well as the good ones.

An edition of Kersti and St. Nicholas was published by Boissevain Books LLC.

For other books and articles and artwork to which rights are asserted, see
http://boissevainbooksllc.blogspot.com/2018/05/van-stockum-hilda-van-stockum-assertion.html.

2. VIKING REVERSION OF RIGHTS to Author, 1967 (Seven Books including Kersti)

3. APPOINTMENT OF EXECUTOR AND TRUSTEE 2006 (Death of author)

4. TRANSFER OF RIGHTS TO BOISSEVAIN BOOKS UPON DEATH OF EXECUTOR

VAN STOCKUM | Hilda van Stockum, Assertion of Rights

Rights are Asserted and Hereby Documented in the following literary works of Hilda van Stockum a/k/a Hilda Marlin aka Mrs. E. R. Marlin. The executor is John Tepper Marlin, Ph.D., Managing Partner of Boissevain Books LLC, to which rights have been assigned.

Hilda van Stockum died in 2006. Rights are asserted for her literary works until 2056 or 2076, depending on the governing copyright law.

The following list is in formation.

Kersti and St. Nicholas. Originally published by Viking Press. Registration was made October 18, 1940. The book is described as having been published in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on October 11, 1940. Recorded in the Register of Copyrights at the Library of Congress by t he Commissioner of Patents, November 4, 1940.  Historical note: Hilda van Stockum was born in Rotterdam, Holland and saw her home city bombed by the Nazis earlier that year. Her book describes a little Dutch girls who persuades St. Nicholas to give presents to the naughty children as well as the good ones.

BOOK FAIR | Selling Books, East Hampton, N.Y.

John Tepper Marlin (seated, L) of Boissevain Books tells the premise
of Princess Josephine and the Rainbow Dragon, its first new 2016
 book. Bill Henderson (seated, R) of Pushcart Press readies his pitch.

May 21, 2016–Boissevain Books partnered with Pushcart Press to staff a table at a Springs Community Presbyterian Church fair.

The books were arrayed based on the age groups to which they are targeted, from youngest to oldest:

• At far left, books for youngest children (e.g., Pamela Walks the Dog, Little Old Bear, Patsy and the Pup).
• Next, books for somewhat older children (Princess Josephine and the Rainbow Dragon, Andries, King Oberon's Forest).
• Then young adult books  (e.g., Penengro, The Borrowed House).
• Finally, books for adults (e.g., Time Bomber, The Box House, A Meaning for Danny).

The books-for-sale table was the only one at the fair, which was primarily made up of sellers of second-hand items.

The advantage of being a unique part of such a fair is that there was no other competition from book sellers. The disadvantage is that buyers were self-selected to be looking for second-hand items, and were not always in the frame of mind to buy a book.

It was a useful experiment. Both of us sold a decent number of books, but I think Bill and I are disposed to looking next time to join a fair that is explicitly identified as a book fair.

Other Boissevain Books news:
The Borrowed House will be coming out soon in a new edition.

CHRISTMAS CAROL | Dec. 17–Pub. Date ("Scrooge"). What year?

Charles Dickens,
A Christmas Carol,
A 1900 U.S. edition.

It was 1843 when A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens was first published.

You may forget the name of the book. It was made into many successful movies, and they usually give the story a better name, just Scrooge:

• Scrooge, or, Marley's Ghost, A Christmas Carol (1908)
• A Christmas Carol (1910)
• Scrooge (1913)
• Scrooge (1935)
• A Christmas Carol (1938)
• Scrooge (1951)
• It's Never Too Late (A Christmas Carol) (1960)
• Scrooge (1970)
• A Christmas Carol (1971)
• An American Christmas Carol, Mickey's Christmas Carol, Scrooged,The Muppet Christmas Carol, A Christmas Carol (1997)
• A Diva's Christmas Carol, Christmas Carol: The Movie, A Carol Christmas,Springtime with Roo, Chasing Christmas, A Christmas Carol (2006)
• A Dennis the Menace Christmas, An American Carol,Ghosts of Girlfriends Past,A Christmas Carol (2009)
• The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol (2011)

You know the story. Three ghosts – from the past, present and future – haunt Ebenezer Scrooge, by the end of which he has learned the Spirit of Christmas. My favorite Scrooge I think is still Alistair Sim.

You don't need to pay for a copy of this book any more. The copyright has expired. You can read the entire book free. The full text is here: http://www.stormfax.com/dickens.htm. You're welcome.

Now, with the money you have saved, the sponsors of the Boissevain Books suggests that you buy a copy of the just-released book Princess Josephine and the Rainbow Dragon. The copyright is fresh so you can't get it free for at least another 50 years.

It's a beautifully printed hard-cover book. Surely there is a princess in your family who wants this book. A young lady aged 5 to 10, maybe? A daughter, granddaughter, niece, great-niece? The lessons are powerful, but are transmitted Mary Poppins-wise.

If your princess is not yet ready for this $145,000 diamond
tiara from Tiffany, I suggest the $19.95 book, Princess
Josephine and the Rainbow Dragon.

The book is illustrated by my sister Brigid Marlin and is written by my niece Kate Bodsworth. I recommend it highly.

The illustrations are uniquely heart-warming. Princess Josephine reveals the inside scoop on the three things she has learned from Princess School. If anyone knows how to reason with dragon, Josephine is it.

The dragon is not an easy sell. He sucks all the colors out of her kingdom because if he doesn't, he loses his own colors – which if you don't know it, would be hugely embarrassing for a Rainbow Dragon.

Worst case scenario, when he is all grey, he will turn to stone.

Bottom line, the dragon has No Choice! What can Princess Josephine do?? She puts on her Princess School thinking cap, that's what she does. She thinks and thinks... .

..and you will have to buy the book to find out what happens next. The book is an inexpensive gift for a princess at $19.95 and to ship it direct to you we add on only the actual cost of shipping. What a deal. ACT! CLICK HERE NOW.

The only way to get a 15% ($3) discount on the $19.95 price is to order from the Boissevain Books Store online. Go to http://www.boissevainbooks.com. Copy this code into the discount box: JCKRN2S38AFK.

Thank you for ordering,
John
John Tepper Marlin for Boissevain Books

BOIS BOOKS | Annual Meeting 2015

Emily and Charles Boissevain, c. 1872.

The 2015 Annual Meeting of Boissevain Books LLC will be held on Sunday, October 11, 2015, in Ottawa, Ont., Canada.

Boissevain Books, named after Charles Boissevain, editor of the Algemeen Handelsblad of Amsterdam, was created in 2007, a year after the death of Hilda van Stockum, to keep her books in print and publish new related books.

Charles Boissevain was Hilda van Stockum's maternal grandfather and her first publisher.

The financials for Boissevain Books for 2014 will be presented along with an account of 2015 results to date and a budget for 2016.

Expected attendance so far:
John Tepper Marlin
Randal Marlin
Brigid Marlin
Alex Marlin

EAST HAMPTON | Bois Books at Children's Fair 2014

Featured Book: Little Old
Bear, by Hilda van Stockum

Boissevain Books LLC - which was originally created by her children to keep alive the books of Hilda van Stockum - will be represented at the East Hampton Library Children's Fair in the afternoon, 2:30 to 5:30 pm, of August 10, 2014.

Little Old Bear, by Hilda van Stockum, is the featured book. It will be read out to any children stopping by the table by the author's son,  John Tepper Marlin - or possibly daughter, Brigid Marlin, who illustrated one of Hilda van Stockum's books, King Oberon's Forest.

The Boissevain Books team has been involved in bringing a Harvard singing group, the Din & Tonics, to the Children's Fair at 4 pm.

I described the last one, a year ago, here. There were 2,500 children and their families visiting the fair.

I will be reading out Little Old Bear to anyone who will listen, in the book area under one of the tents. It takes me less than five minutes to read it out. Little Old Bear was written by my mother and I try to keep it in print by reading it out. It's a great story that appeals to young and old (the bear, after all, is old and is blind when you first meet him) and I never get tired of reading it out.

The book authors are arranged alphabetically, so the van Stockum table is likely to be close to the end of the line, by the cash register.

TIME BOMBER | Monument to Plane Crew

L to R: John Ellyatt, John Tepper Marlin and Cpl. Pamela Turney, 
pointing to the crew members to whom they are related. The 
crew members named on the monument are:

Flying Officer Willem Jacob Van Stockum, Pilot

Flying Officer John Ellyatt, Flight Engineer

Flying Officer Gilbert Daniel, Navigator

Flying Officer Robert Keith Marshall, Bomb Aimer

Sergeant Alfred Charles Perkins, Wireless Operator AG

Pilot Officer Fred Beales RCAF, Upper Gunner

Sergeant Albert Mason, Rear Gunner

The hero of Time Bomber is Willem van Stockum, my mother's brother.

Last month I attended a ceremony in France right after the 70th anniversary of D-Day.

The ceremony occurred 70 years after the downing of the MZ 684 Halifax bomber, at Entrammes, near Laval, Mayenne, France - south of Omaha Beach.

My uncle Willem was the pilot of the plane. He and two other crew members were represented by their families at the unveiling: John Ellyatt's son John Ellyatt and Fred Beales's great-niece Cpl. Pamela Turney.

In 2011, four of the seven crew members were represented by family at the Vaufleury Cemetery. The additional family member then was Robin Sumner, nephew of Gilbert Daniel.

Top photo shows two relatives of the crew of the MZ 684, 
JT Marlin (your blogger), nephew of Willem van Stockum, 
and Pamela Turney, great-niece of Fred Beales. The newly 
unveiled monument to the 1944 crash is in Entrammes.

The same day, another monument was unveiled, at Saint-Berthevin, dedicated to the MZ 532 Halifax bomber and its crew.

Comment

Uncle Willem was the person who brought my parents together. He roomed with my father at Trinity College, Dublin in 1929-32. When my father discovered that Willem had a sister, he set about wooing her.

They were married in 1932, had their first child in 1934 (my sister Olga will be 80 this year), and ten years after they were married they got me (#5 out of 6 children).

When Uncle Willem died in 1944, a light went out in the lives of my parents. It was unspeakably tragic for them and for my Granny who lived with us. She lost her husband and both of her sons within a period of a few years. Her daughter was the only one left. Granny died in 1949, the same year as her brother Eugen Boissevain, husband of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

When we came to visit the graves in 1954, the 13 RAF-administered British and Commonwealth graves had tombstones. My uncle's grave just had a simple wooden cross. I remember my mother burst into tears because she couldn't understand why her brother was singled out for not having a tombstone.

"Time Bomber", by Robert
Wack, centered on the life
of W. J. van Stockum.

It turns out it was because Willem was still a Dutch citizen (he was seconded from the Royal Canadian Air Force but was still Dutch although he had applied for American citizenship and was subject to the draft). The Dutch Government had asked my mother what she wanted to have on the tombstone and she said: "Greater love hath no man..." The tombstone arrived in due course, but my mother never came back to see it. My brother Randal and I have been back several times. The Dutch tombstone is very impressive, but it does not have on it the epitaph that my mother requested.

On the other hand, my uncle is the only one so far of the 14 members of the crew to have a book written about him - Time Bomber, written by an unrelated U.S. Army Major and pediatrician, Dr. Robert Wack.

I recommend the book for three groups of people: (1) those interested in the European theater of World War II, (2) those interested in the scientists who have examined time travel, and (3) those who are interested in the motivation and challenges of a soldier's and airman's life.  The story is based mainly on factual material about my uncle and the life he led until it was ended. The additional elements that have been added to the story, what we could call the sci-fi meta-story, make several important points that are hard to discuss any other way.

Boissevain Books 2013 Annual Meeting

Boissevain Books LLC is meeting at 28 Third Avenue in Ottawa this weekend. The publishing company was created in 2007 to keep in print and exploit rights to the books of Hilda van Stockum, who died in 2006. The rights to her many books and artworks was left to her children, with her son Dr. John Tepper Marlin as executor and trustee. He has collected all the copyrights and other evidence of title and for succession purposes has assigned them to Boissevain Books LLC, with one-sixth of shares owned by each of the six beneficiaries of Hilda van Stockum's will.

In pursuit of its mission, Boissevain Books LLC has achieved since HvS's death the following:
1. In conjunction with CreateSpace, it has republished the following four books by Hilda van Stockum that were out of print: "Little Old Bear", "Patsy and the Pup", "Penengro" and "Kersti and St. Nicholas". With CreateSpace it has also published a second edition of "To Africa with a Dream" by Dr. Olga Marlin.
2. In conjunction with Infinity Publishing, it has republished the following book written by Hilda van Stockum: "King Oberon's Forest". It has also published "A Meaning for Danny" written and illustrated by Brigid Marlin. Two additional books are under contract and prepaid to be published with Infinity Publishing.
3. A contract has been signed to publish a second edition of "In Apple Blossom Time", by Dr. Robert Wack, which is a fictionalized story revolving around the life of Dr. Willem van Stockum, brother of Hilda van Stockum and pioneer in the translation of Einstein's special relativity equations into time-travel concepts.
4. Additional titles are in the pipeline, including "The Box House" by Brigid Marlin.
5. Rights to translation of "A Day on Skates" into Japanese were successfully negotiated and the book was received well in Japan.
6. For the first time ever, one of Hilda van Stockum's books was in 2013 translated into her native Dutch. Her book "The Borrowed House" was translated as "Het Gestolen Huis", a less forgiving title.
7. Boissevain Books LLC maintains several web sites, including www.hildavanstockum.com and www.boissevain.us.
8. Boissevain Books LLC updates several blog sites, including www.boissevainbooksLLC.blogspot.com, www.writers4kids.blogspot.com (with biographical and other data on writers of children's books), www.hildavanstockum.blogspot.com, and www.nyctimetraveler.blogspot.com.

One issue before the Board of Directors is the extent to which Boissevain Books LLC should add more original titles to its list, especially in the memoir/biography genre, and how these books should be marketed. As mentioned above, Boissevain Books LLC has published the second edition of "To Africa with a Dream" by Dr. Olga Marlin and "A Meaning for Danny" by Brigid Marlin. (These and all other books published by Boissevain Books LLC are available on www.Amazon.com by searching on the name of the book and, if disambiguation is needed, the author.)

The first meeting of the Board of Directors of Boissevain Books LLC was at 771 Fireplace Road in East Hampton, NY, in August 2012. This weekend is the second annual meeting. The members of the Board, listed in age order, are: Ms. Brigid Marlin, Dr. Randal Marlin, Dr. John Tepper Marlin and Alexander Marlin. Half of the beneficiaries are personally represented.

The Board of Directors meeting will take up the following issues:
1. Approval of 2012 minutes by Dr. Randal Marlin.
2. Legal issues - LLC status (under the laws of the State of New York). The operating agreement picking up from Hilda van Stockum's will and providing for succession. Ownership of rights. Role of the Board of Directors.
3. Editorial issues - titles published in 2012-13 and new titles in the pipeline. Separation of children's books from other titles - new division, company?
4. Marketing issues - marketing plan for children's books and other books.
5. Financial issues. Operating results for 2012. Sales data for 2013.
6. Next meeting - location and date.