In June of 1991 I got a letter inviting me to visit grade 1/2 at Lloyd George Public School in Hamilton, Ontario. I decided to drop in without telling anyone I was coming. The teacher, Carma McKay, freaked out when I walked in, but the kids thought it was neat.
While I was telling stories, a kid named Lance asked for a story about Halloween, because Halloween was his favourite day of the year. I made up a story for Lance that was sort of like the book, only it did not have the part with the teenager. This story took a long time to get good. When I finally decided to make it into a book, Lloyd George School was closed and I could not track down Lance. Happily, Carma McKay tracked me down when she heard that I was looking for Lance. It turned out that Lance had moved back to Jamaica, but Carma still had his picture.
Lloyd George School was right across the street from an enormous steel mill. The mill is the backdrop in some of the pictures.
