'Marley's Ghost' Expands on Dickens

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (AP) â€” In October 1843, a story gripped Charles Dickens. He ``wept and laughed, and wept again,'' he later said, as he wrote ``A Christmas Carol'' in a six-week rush.

Wednesday, December 20th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MILL VALLEY, Calif. (AP) â€” In October 1843, a story gripped Charles Dickens. He ``wept and laughed, and wept again,'' he later said, as he wrote ``A Christmas Carol'' in a six-week rush.

In 1996, a similar obsession took hold of writer Mark Hazard Osmun. As he rode a bus in San Francisco, he noticed a billboard advertising a theatrical production of Dickens' Christmas classic. That was when he realized that the true hero of the story was Jacob Marley, Scrooge's business partner who appears as a chain-dragging ghost warning him to change his ways.

``He's the most important character in 'A Christmas Carol,''' Osmun says, but he's a cipher â€” Dickens gave him just a few paragraphs in the story, with no explanation for his motives.

The result is ``Marley's Ghost,'' a wonderfully written exploration of good vs. evil that remains true to the characters and style of the classic tale that inspired it.

Osmun, a first-time novelist, probed the history of Dickensian England to create Marley's life story: a happy childhood that ended with his father's death. Marley's heart is hardened by forced labor in the coal mines and a miscarriage of justice that lands him in prison.

Publishers Weekly called the ``para-Dickensian tale'' a ``moving, cleverly imagined life of Scrooge's late partner'' and a ``solid piece of historical imagining.''

In keeping with the spirit of Dickens' novel and feeling indebted to Dickens himself, Osmun proposed to his publisher that the company make a charitable donation in Dickens' name.

Granted, the first check was relatively small, but that amount could grow if more people buy ``Marley's Ghost.''

It is an incentive that seems to be gaining momentum as more and more authors include appeals for donations in the backs of their books and are becoming more vocal about their own charitable works.

Dickens never earned any royalties from the American sales of his books. Publishers in the United States simply pocketed the proceeds, claiming that British writers were adequately compensated for their work in their own country and that international fame was repayment enough.

``Being a writer, you have some feeling of brotherhood and I wouldn't like to be in that situation,'' Osmun says. ``And we all have a literary debt to Charles Dickens.''

Doug Johnston, founder of Twelfth Night Press, a small publishing house in Corte Madera, Calif., immediately agreed. ``The topic matter really puts you in that frame of mind,'' he says.

A few weeks before Christmas, Osmun sent a check for $880 to Literacy Volunteers of America. The check represents a projected 5 percent of the publisher's profits from the first run of 3,000 copies.

``We can't really pay (Dickens), but we can do something that he would be delighted with ... promoting literacy,'' says Osmun, a freelance journalist who to date has earned just $3,000 from ``Marley's Ghost,'' which took him 2 1/2 years to research and write.

Many authors, like Osmun, feel the need to repay their debts â€” literary and otherwise.

Amy Tan, author of ``The Joy Luck Club,'' helps organize the National Kidney Foundation's annual authors' luncheon in San Francisco, her hometown. Noted writers give speeches and sign books at the $85 a plate event. Barnes and Noble donates 10 percent of its sales to the foundation, organizers say. The popular event, attended by 1,200 people this year, raises an average of $200,000 annually.

Tan's commitment to the foundation is personal. She has three kidneys and has suffered medical problems as a result. Her 9-year-old niece has the same problem, although hers is more severe.

``There's a lot of responsibility you end up feeling because of people shining a spotlight on you,'' Tan said during an interview at this year's fundraiser. ``You feel so lucky to be able to do what you're doing and if you also get paid well ... whatever blessing you have you feel you should share.''

When her career took off about 12 years ago and requests for financial help started pouring in, Tan and her husband formed a foundation that donates in key areas: the elderly; Asian-American communities; literacy; freedom of speech; and animal welfare.

Horror master Stephen King has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to libraries, hospitals and domestic violence victims. He also built a Little League ballpark in Bangor, Maine, where he lives.

But even authors who aren't as well known or commercially successful find ways to give back to their communities.

Lynne Hinton, first-time author of the best-selling ``Friendship Cake,'' takes her obligation seriously. The friendly, down-to-earth pastor at First Congregational United Church of Christ in Asheboro, N.C., says she's always given away 10 percent of her income and her book sales only increase her responsibility.

``I grew up in a preacher's house and tithing was part of our existence,'' she says. ``That model is very much ingrained in me. ... You use any voice you have to encourage other writers ... to give back to the community.''

Malachy McCourt, brother of the Pulitzer Prize winning Frank McCourt, says it's important to remember his roots.

``I don't forget my poverty of childhood,'' says the younger McCourt, who rallied against his bleak boyhood in Ireland by living and writing about his raucous, freewheeling early adulthood in 1950s New York City. ``I remember the shame and fear â€” the demons that hold you back.''

As a recovering alcoholic and stepfather to a severely mentally retarded daughter, those causes are dear to him. He was part of the group of parents who helped shut down Willowbrook State School in the early 1970s, the New York institution made famous by Geraldo Rivera because of its horrific conditions.

``I give of myself. That's my favorite way,'' McCourt says. ``I don't have a lot of money. I'm often asked to donate autographed books. We all need to do what we can.''

As for Osmun, he hopes ``Marley's Ghost'' sells well â€” for Dickens' sake and for his own as well.

``I love the book. I love the way it looks. I love that people I don't know like it. I got what I wanted for Christmas,'' he says. ``And if people buy 'Marley's Ghost' they are contributing to the literacy of America.''