Although Jackie Robinson was the first
African-American to play Major League Baseball, he was so much more than the
man who broke the MLB color barrier. He was a role model for millions of
African-Americans, including 16-year-old DannyWashington, a character in Ron
Hutchison’s period novel Voices of theLocusts.
Danny idolizes the Brooklyn Dodger second
baseman, and explains his passionate relationship with Robinson early in the
story.
Discussing his teacher’s seething racism—the bigoted teacher has openly mocked
Danny in class—Danny tells two friends: “Dad says when people start calling me
names to turn the other cheek,” Danny says. “To be non-violent like Jackie
Robinson.”
Jack
O’Brien, the story’s protagonist, reminds Danny of the pledge he has taken when
the racist teacher ridicules Danny during a class discussion of major U.S.
historical events:
“Mr. Washington, can you
tell the class what great historical events have been shaped by Negroes?” Mr.
Azember walks to the window and looks out, his back to the class. “No hurry.
Take your time.”
A painful silence falls over
the classroom. No one breathes or clears their throat or squirms in their seat.
Only the relentless ticking of the clock on the wall breaks the agonizing hush.
As if to accentuate the torment of the moment, Mr.
Azember begins to hum a little tune.
Jack glances over at Danny. Grim
lines of anger have frozen his friend’s face into ugliness. “Remember Jackie
Robinson,” Jack whispers. “Turn the other cheek.”
Born
to a family of sharecroppers, Jackie Robinson was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, ending the racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades.
In addition to his cultural impact, Robinson had an exceptional baseball
career.
Although Robinson
was berated by both fans and teammates alike, he never lost his composure—he
always managed to turn the other cheek, a lesson that served Danny Washington
well.
About Voices of the Locusts
 |
| Voices of the Locusts |
Sixteen-year old Jack O’Brien has never known the
bittersweet stint of love, and romance is the farthest thing from his mind as
he and his family arrives at a remote U.S. Air Force outpost in Japan where
Jack’s father is base commander. The year is 1948. Jack’s life changes after a
chance encounter with Fujiko Kobaysi, a beautiful and enchanting 17-year-old
Japanese girl. Jack is immediately smitten.
Fujiko’s traditional parents are overly protective
and monitor her every move, and Jack and Fujiko meet secretly at her garden,
located some distance from her village. There is a good reason why Fujiko’s
parents are so protective and Jack is devastated when Fujiko tells him that her
parents have promised her in marriage to an older man, a practice common
throughout Asia at the time. The marriage is only a months away. Jack devises a
cunning plan, one that will overshadow her arranged marriage and bring Fujiko
and him together.
Playing against a backdrop of swirling post-War
social change, Voices of the Locusts tells the story of three families – one
black, one white, one Asian. Told in Jack’s voice in vivid and sometimes
haunting detail, Jack and Fujiko are frustrated in their romantic quest by
story characters coming to terms (often violently) with the emotional scars of
World War II.
Voices
of the Locusts Book Excerpt
A flutter of panic races through my body.
It is instantly replaced by a sweep of joy, and a strange, unnatural lucidity
overcomes me.
Fujiko
and I hesitate for what seems a small eternity, our eyes locked in a moment of
mutual understanding. Finally, I lean in toward Fujiko and she leans in toward
me. Our eyes close and our mouths touch in a whisper-soft kiss, a brief, gentle
brush of lips.
I pull back slowly, my heart racing, my
head alive with all manner of strange, warm images. This must all be a dream. A
wonderful, glorious dream. I don’t want to ever wake up.
About Ron Hutchison
 |
| Author Ron Hutchison |
Ron Hutchison
began writing fiction full time after a long career in journalism and public
relations. Voices of the Locusts is
his fourth novel. A multi-genre author, Hutchison’s choice of novels to write
is determined not by genre, but by the weight of the story. Hutchison graduated
from the University of Missouri in 1967 with a degree in journalism. He has
worked as a reporter, editor, and columnist at newspapers in Texas, California,
and Missouri. He was employed by a Fortune 100 company as a public relations
executive, and later operated his own public relations agency. Hutchison
attended high school in Japan, and much of his Voices of the Locusts is based on personal experience. Hutchison
lives in Joplin, Missouri.
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