NEVER LET GOING TO SCHOOL INTERFERE
WITH GETTING A GOOD EDUCATION
I had a key memory of Mickey Spillane just a day before he died, recalling my discovery of his steamy I The Jury when I was a curious but relatively naive 11 year old.
At that time, poclet books were both newly and prominently displayed in the candy store across the street from my elementary school in Miami Beach, Florida. On this occasion I made a gigantic leap in my consciousness concerning the nature of adult pleasure.
Previous to this discovery I had been perfectly content to enjoy such pleasures as buying a daily stash of Fleers Double Bubble Gum, playing pin ball in the mysterious dark back room in Jack's {the name of the candy store}, and ocassionally daring to buy a few punch out raffles for a whole dollar each.
Back to I The Jury. A few days before my momentous discovery, I had been instructed by my mentor - Mitch - a sophisticated 6th grader and my best friend - that the next time I go to Jacks to look at the back pages of certain selected books such as Erskine Caldwell's God's Little Acre and Tobacco Road.
Diligently following his sage advice I was pleasantly surprised to be inducted into the steamy arena of hot sex. It was in this context that in responding to the alluring cover of I The Jury, I - having taken Mitch's words seriously - I immeditately turned to the end of the book finding myself instantly rewarded for my daring efforts.
Rarely then or now was I as turned on by the written word as I was then reading about Mike Hammer torn between duty and lust as he confronted a confessed gorgeous sultry criminal woman faced with the agonizing choice of either turning her into the police or giving into her remarkably obvious seductive invitation to engage in more interpersonal pursuits.
With only about three pages or less to go before the end of the book I vividly recall the criminal beauty raising her hands as Mike levels a cocked pistol on the level of her breasts threatening to shoot her when she unexpectedly initiates a striping of her sexy clothing calculated to divert his attention.
If you want to see what happens you have to read the end of the book. But I will add my conclusion that Mickey Spillane did as much to motivate me read with full attention than did any other teacher - but one - ever did.
He will be forever remembered with gratitude by me and I imagine hordes of boys on the cusp of teen -ager - dom. - Maybe by some girls too. -
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Comments: 2
I too was a youthful reader of Spillane's books. Around the same time, I was also furthering my "education" with Hemingway, Faulkner and J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye." Spillane's output was not in their class, but I still was intrigued by the sex and violence.