Author Raymond Arroyo joined host Michael Patrick Leahy on Thursday’s episode of The Tennessee Star Report to discuss the inspiration and behind-the-scenes story of his brand-new picture book, The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln. Arroyo is on his way to visit Brentwood on Saturday for a book-signing event.
TRANSCRIPT
Michael Patrick Leahy: 7:33 a. m. we are joined now by our very good friend Raymond Arroyo on the newsmaker line. Raymond, you have a new book out, The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln, and you’re going to be here on Saturday to do a book signing.
Thanks for joining us, Raymond.
Raymond Arroyo: Oh, Michael, always a pleasure, and I love coming to Nashville and look, we’re at the Cool Springs Barnes Noble again at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, so I hope people will come out.
It’s a fantastic book, it comes at a very interesting time that I think is probably providential: this story came at this moment, and really, it’s about a boy in his family’s life – the life of the Lincolns – providing hope in a moment of darkness.
And when I look at the world today, when we look at the things you and I have been reporting and you’ve been reporting all morning you know, people can get down, you can get depressed. And, historically, people could never figure out why Abraham Lincoln allowed his son, Tad, his youngest son, to run wild all over the White House.
I mean, he hitched goats to dining room chairs and galloped through the East Room. He was digging up the Rose Gardens – and Lincoln would indulge the kid because, I think, after digging through letters and testimonies of contemporaries, Tad Lincoln was his touchstone of joy, happiness, and normalcy in the middle of a hellscape.
And it’s a great reminder, I think, to all of us, particularly parents, about the power of children in our lives, what really matters, and together, Tad and Abraham Lincoln created this amazing national holiday tradition that continues to this day.
And this book is also a piece of that. It reveals that story as well.
Michael Patrick Leahy: And for Abraham Lincoln, for those who probably may not have read as much about his background, you know, he had this great intellect, but he had a tendency towards a kind of a depressive personality, and that that happened during the Civil War.
Raymond Arroyo: Yes; he was a deeply depressed guy, and you can understand why.
He lost a child before he came into the White House; he loses another at the White House; he’s losing the war.
But there were notations from his secretaries that I noticed – diary entries – where they would say when he was playing with his boys, when they pulled a prank on him, you know, knocked his hat down or stole his papers and threw them all around the cabinet room.
He would be doubled over in “neighing laughter.” And this was a picture of Lincoln that I certainly never had. And it doesn’t really appear in the popular imagination. So I thought, it’s important to tell this story, this face of Lincoln, if you will.
But more importantly, it’s a picture book. It’s not a deep book. It’s not a chapter book. It’s a picture book for the whole family.
There’s a lot of fun here. But I love that I can tell this sort of tender story about a father who teaches his son forgiveness and mercy, and then at a critical moment, the son teaches the father the lesson again, and reminds his father of it.
And of course, I’m going to, spoiler alert, I’ll ruin the book a little bit for you, but not really.
When I was a correspondent, often I covered the White House turkey part, you know, when the president brings in a pair of turkeys Thanksgiving week. He pardons them so they don’t cook the turkeys. And they send them to a turkey farm.
And I wondered where did this come from? It’s the most bizarre thing in the world. They bring two live turkeys out, the president kind of blesses them. What is this?
Turns out, this is a tradition that began with Tad Lincoln asking his father at a very particular time for a pardon. I won’t go further than that, but it really is a sweet story and I think now, that tradition is a monument to the affection between this father and this son, and the power of a child to bring hope, even when you don’t see any, or feel any.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Now Tad was his nickname, his first name was Thomas, right? I think he was born, what, 1853? He was, what, eight? Eight when his dad became president. Twelve when his dad passed away. Here’s what’s interesting to me. I think you have found such a fabulous niche in terms of writing books.
Because your audience here – you call it a picture book with, with some story elements to it. Your audience, though, it’s not just children, is it? It’s an entire family.
Raymond Arroyo: No, I consider these family reads, Michael. I always have.
You know, and, and I started this book as a chapter book.
I was gonna write it, you know, for middle grade kids, like eight and up. Then as I got into it, I said, you know, this really needs to be a family read. You want parents reading it to their children, grandparents sharing it with the children.
The wonderful thing here is it’s a lot of fun; everybody can enter in. But there is a deep layer here. There’s an emotional movement beneath the surface that kids may not pick up on that adults will, and can sort of dive deeper into.
This is part of my Turnabout Tales series. The last book was about Thomas Edison, who you know, the unexpected light of Thomas Alva Edison, who at eight years old was thrown out of school, told he was an idiot. His mother takes him home and homeschools him, and that’s the end of his formal training.
She feeds his passion, she feeds his intellect, allows him to tinker and make mistakes, and creates the greatest inventor of all time. So, there, a mother saved her son. This is the story of a son saving his father.
And again, I love that It’s also a historical on-ramp for families and for kids, you know, the motto of our Turnabout Tales series is ‘Challenges faced, decisions made, and history turned,’ and I think that’s what happens, not only in the lives of these historic figures, but in our lives, and the lives of our children.
And it’s important to let them know, obstacles and challenges are not the end of your journey, they’re the beginning of your life.
Michael Patrick Leahy: What I like about your approach here, Raymond, is, you know, you just don’t sit down and make stuff up and write a children’s book. You do a lot of deep research, and I think that research is important in how you frame the stories and in story selection as well.
Raymond Arroyo: You bet. I do that. And look, I have a fantasy series, Will Wilder over at Random House, so I indulge the fantasy fiction stuff, which is hard to write, as well.
But, I do a lot of research on these historical books because it’s important. And look, we’re losing these figures, Michael.
Our children have no access to these historical moments. And if you don’t know your history, if you don’t know the foundation you stand upon, then you’re open to others either taking it from you or remaking it in some other image.
You have to know what went before: good, bad, or indifferent. You must know that history.
So, it’s important for kids to have some grasp, some even fleeting knowledge of this period. And again, in 1863, the year this book takes place primarily, the latter part of the book, That is the year Lincoln Creates the turkey pardon. He also signs the Emancipation Declaration. He also signs the proclamation making Thanksgiving a national holiday.
And offers the Gettysburg Address. It all happens in that year. And Tad Lincoln is with him through much of that. So it’s a neat way for young people to kind of see history through the eyes of a child who was present and a participant.
Michael Patrick Leahy: That’s so important these days because, you know, when I was growing up, I remember going to the library and my favorite thing to do was to get biographies of great heroes of American history, presidents, explorers, etc.
And so you have an example, shall we say, of the American character, of American exceptionalism.
I don’t think kids get much of that today.
Raymond Arroyo: No, you bet. Well, that’s why it’s important. I also think, look, there’s something scrappy about the American experience, you know.
It’s not, it’s not the elite; it’s scrappy people who kind of clawed their way forward fitfully, and it’s not perfect.
And yet, that spirit, that spirit of fight, that spirit of wanting to do your best, and then offering something good for another, that ends up prevailing. And it’s important to kindle that spirit, remind all of us of that. And it’s hard to see it at times in our politics, in the way that our world is tending, you see this horror in Israel.
And when I watched this thing unfold on television, I thought maybe that’s why this book comes now because it shows people you can find hope. You can find light even when you think there’s none available. And it may be right next to you. It may be in your own home. And the power of families, the love of a family, and the influence of a family, I think, is another element we miss in American life and I hope The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln helps revive a little of that and remind us of its power.
Michael Patrick Leahy: The scrappy, independent American character – that’s what, that’s what created, if you will, American exceptionalism.
Raymond Arroyo: You bet. No, it’s at the heart of who we are, and who we should be.
And I worry when I go to schools, Michael, and I go to a lot of them. These are, these are sort of tony, expensive institutions as well as very poor, you know, public and private schools in the inner cities that I visit because I try to make sure I hit both.
And it gives you a real snapshot of where we are in America and where we’re headed. And you still see the wonder in the eyes of these kids and their imagination, but so much of this, our American history, our American experience, is sort of pushed out of the curricula. So I thought, I need to find some way to access this, to make it accessible to kids, so they want to go on this ride.
And I think I found a way to do it, because it’s a lot of fun. Kids love it. They howl and laugh at the perfect moment. You know, they’re looking to have a good time, and the open of the book is a good time. I mean, it’s about kids running wild in the White House, and being kids, building forts and digging up – imagining they’re on the war battlefront, and it’s sort of cool.
It’s a really fun story for children, and they can see themselves in these characters, I think. And then, of course, the latter journey, you have the turkey part, and that we still have. Happens every year at the White House. And I hope when people look at, at a turkey, they don’t just see, you know, something to be eaten, but it reminds them of this moment in history, and the forgiveness, and the mercy that Lincoln envisioned Thanksgiving to be, and that Tad reminded him of in their family life.
Michael Patrick Leahy: The book, The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln, the author, our guest, Raymond Arroyo.
Raymond will have a book signing this Saturday at 3 p.m. at Barnes Noble, Cool Springs, 1701 Mallory Lane in Brentwood.
And by the way, Raymond, last time you came here for a book signing, I said, ‘Oh gosh, a book signing? I don’t think anybody’s gonna show up. I’m gonna go there just to give Raymond moral support.’
It was packed! It was packed!
Raymond Arroyo: Yeah, it was packed out. Well, that’s because I came on your show.
Michael Patrick Leahy: Of course! I’ll be there again. And Raymond, I hope everyone in our audience goes this Saturday to Barnes Noble, Cool Springs, 1701 Mallory Lane in Brentwood/Franklin.
The book, The Magnificent Mischief of Tad Lincoln. Raymond, thanks so much for joining us. I’ll see you Saturday afternoon.
Raymond Arroyo: Can’t wait to see you all and I have a little surprise. I’m going to announce a Christmas surprise there, so we’ll have a good time.
Michael Patrick Leahy: I look forward to seeing that and look forward to seeing you, Raymond. Thank you for joining us.
We’ll be back with more after this.
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Photo “Raymond Arroyo” by Raymond Arroyo.
