A bittersweet tale

Fiction mirrors reality in a book by 1979 alumnus Will Allen, who died of cancer in 1980. Twenty-three years later, his brother took it upon himself to publish the book, which is gaining national acclaim.

By Betsy Vereckey

A great fiction book transports readers to a land of fantasy far from life's harsh realities. "Swords for Hire" was a way for author Will Allen, BA '79, to escape to an ideal world where good triumphed over evil and heroes lived long and happy lives.

Allen's own voice is heard through Sam, the protagonist hero who saves the day. But while life ended "happily ever after" for Sam, Allen's own battle continued.

While still a student at Ohio University, Allen was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in the spring of 1978. He graduated summa cum laude a year later. His childhood sweetheart, now Anne Schmitz Allen Strand, left her studies at the University to join him back in Dayton to take care of him. That September, they married, despite the fact that his death had become imminent.

As a way of coping, Allen started working on “Swords for Hire.” He shut himself in his bedroom and pounded away on the typewriter to finish the book in just a few months.

"Swords For Hire" is a humorous fantasy inspired by his love of William Goldman's "The Princess Bride." It features a farm-boy-turned-swordsman who helps a member of the Royal Guard restore a good king to power. The characters are based on Allen and his loved ones.

Allen completed the book in time to present a copy to his family on Christmas day in 1979. He died four months later.

Strand was devastated. She and Allen grew up together in Kettering, Ohio. While students at Ohio University, they often went to the movies and shopped for Allen's favorite thing: comic books.

"We both had a love for books," Strand says. "He had been my whole world since I was 15."

After Allen died, Strand moved to San Diego, where she lived for 22 years. She remarried in 1989, and she and her husband, Steve Strand, and their two sons live in Charlotte, N.C.

Allen crosses Strand's mind often.

"We always sort had the feeling that his life was stolen from him," says Strand.

"Swords For Hire" remained a private family treasure for 23 years until Allen's older brother Paul saw how his own children responded to the book when he read it to them. Paul wanted Will's spirit to live on. He felt that other children would enjoy the book as much as his did.

"It's a book that still makes me laugh out loud," Paul says. "Although it's a children's book, if you were on an airplane and you picked it up, you'd definitely finish it."

Paul had approximately 100 copies printed and gave them to friends. He also entered a preliminary version of the book in a Writer's Digest magazine contest and saw it land a national award.

And then things took off.

Paul Allen made a few changes, wrote an epilogue and had a book cover designed; images of the characters resembled family members. Another of Will's friends, Nancy Cartwright, who attended Ohio University from 1976 to 1978, wrote the foreward. Cartwright and Will grew up together in Kettering, Ohio. Cartwright, now recognized as the voice of Bart Simpson, got her start doing the voice work for Allen's popular radio comedy show, "Campus." The daily show featured the stories of characters at a fictional Marshack University.

"He could see the humor in all sorts of situations," Strand says.

After the book was published, the American Booksellers Association ranked it No. 2 on its list of Top Ten Science Fiction/Fantasy books for fall 2003. Another reason the book has gained popularity, Strand says, is because librarians embraced it and put it on their recommendation lists.

"That's where the groundswell really started," Strand says.

Voice of Youth Advocates, a magazine read by librarians all across the country, named Allen's book to its Best of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror 2003 list.

"It's amazing that he's on the same list as J.K. Rowling," Strand says, overjoyed at the book's success. "He's at long last getting what he deserved."

Paul also is pleased with the attention his brother's book is getting. One day when he was surfing the Internet for mentions of the book, he found the site for a library in New Zealand. "Swords for Hire" was checked out.

"I can't believe there's some kid in New Zealand reading 'Swords For Hire'!" Strand says.

Although Will completed the book in only a few months, Paul says, it is amazingly well organized.

"Every chapter in the book ends with a little twist," Paul says. "It's like potato chips -- you just have to have one more."

Paul intends to publish more of his brother's work.

"He's been a creative guy ever since the second grade," Paul said, amazed at the stacks and piles of Allen's writings, films and tapes. But what surprises Paul the most is the imagination and creativity that went into "Swords For Hire."

"How Will did that at 22," Paul says, "I'll never know."

Betsy Vereckey, MS '04, is the graduate student writer for Ohio Today Online.