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Sometimes book projects go better than you could have ever expected (The Day-Glo Brothers, Shark Vs. Train), and sometimes they don’t.

One of mine that didn’t — or, optimistically, hasn’t been going so well for a while — was a YA biography of Alan Lomax, which fell into contractual limbo when my editor’s job disappeared.

Alan Lomax was a giant in our culture — and by “our” I mean “your,” especially if you live on this planet and even more particularly if you have an interest in music.

Starting when he was a teenager in the 1930s and continuing well into the 1990s, Lomax traveled the United States and eventually the world recording (and inspiring countless others to record) indigenous music, folk music, made-everyday-by-everyday-people music before the sounds of mass media crowded out those voices.

It was no easy task. Lomax started back when portable recording devices weighed hundreds of pounds rather than just a few ounces, and my appreciation of the efforts he spent finding and preserving those singers and songs — long before YouTube allowed each of us to do the same in seconds — just grows and grows.

Along the way, Lomax crossed paths with Leadbelly, Muddy Waters, Jelly Roll Morton, Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Margaret Mead, Carl Sagan, Moby (yes, Moby), Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, the King and Queen of England, and so on. He got blacklisted and was hounded by the FBI. He ruffled feathers, and still does, nearly a decade after his death.

He’s also the subject of an impressive biography just published for the adult market, Alan Lomax: The Man Who Recorded the World by John Szwed (Viking).

How I wish I had written this book, but oh, how happy I am that this book simply exists at all. There’s never been a better opportunity for folks to appreciate the impact that Lomax had on our musical landscape — or to appreciate the legacy that any person can leave behind when they start early and work like a dog for several decades.

The New York Times summed up the enormity of Szwed’s task:

Alan Lomax had astounding energy and enthusiasm. He was both an exhaustive and exhausting force in American music for almost 70 years. When he died in 2002, he left behind at least the following, which Mr. Szwed has dauntlessly tackled as source material: 5,000 hours of sound recordings; 400,000 feet of film; 2,450 videotapes; 2,000 books and journals; numerous prints, documents and databases; and more than 120 linear feet of paperwork.

Sufficiently recovered from his researching and writing, Szwed took the time to answer a few questions from me via email:

Considering that you knew Alan Lomax personally, what did you learn in researching and writing his biography that most surprised you?

I suppose the most surprising thing is the sheer amount of work that Alan got done in so many areas once he got to Washington and then NYC at such an early age. Radio, the recording business, Haiti, the trip south, the books, his work as a script writer and DJ — it’s hard to see how he could have done so much so fast, and while he was in the army, too.

Given the scope and significance of his life and work, why aren’t Alan and his accomplishments more widely known?

It sure did this YA biographer's heart good to see the following reference in the current issue of TIME, in an article on Sacred Harp singing:

Get Lomaxed.
Almost every revived American folk-music form was once recorded for the Library of Congress by musicologist Alan Lomax. He taped Sacred Harp in 1942 and '59. Unlike other finds such as Leadbelly, it failed to spark during the 1960s folk revival, but musicologists were infected. Now the form had imitable LPs and an academic beachhead.

And if that combination doesn't sound like something you'd like to read, well, that's because I've still got quite a bit of work to do on the Lomax chapter for which I just finished a very, very dense first draft.

In writing news, Fandangle Magazine published my poem, "Home is Not Too Far," which was inspired by my windshield wipers. Click here and scroll to page nine to read it. Also, the copyedited manuscript for Violet Raines is scheduled to arrive on my doorstep by Friday! I cannot believe how fast this process is going--it's like dog years.

In other news, I'm on my way to a big box shopping center. I only hope I don't have Ello's experience. She's doing well; the bruises have almost faded.

While decorating, we opened one of our boxes to discover tiny black bugs creeping among my favorite decorations. This is the box that holds most of my snowmen, the Christmas plaque (which is made of fabric), and the silk poinsettia topiary I like to put by the stairs. My husband thinks we should spray a bunch of paper towels with bug spray, put it in the box, and seal it tightly.

It's a good idea, but we've got natural solutions right here in the house--a lizard (a gecko like on those Geico commercials but not cute and not Australian) lives in my computer room, and a different one was last seen Tuesday under the Christmas tree at 11 a.m. I tried to catch them, but they were too smart for my paper cup trap. I say we open the bug box of decorations and let the lizards do their job.

If you’re a regular reader of Fandangle Magazine then you already know about all the wonderful stories, articles, poems, puzzles, crafts and much more that make up every issue as well as the virtual library, free educational games and great resources for families, teachers and writers. But does your best friend know? Your sisters and brothers? Your child’s teacher or librarian? Your child’s babysitter or daycare provider? Your co-workers?

The Let’s Start a Wildfire! is a campaign to help everyone you know find out about Fandangle.

What’s in it for you?

Prizes of course! The top three people who help get the Fandangle Wildfire started will win one of the following prizes:

First Prize: $50 gift certificate to Amazon.com and their choice of any of our Cafe Press products.

Second Prize: $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com and their choice of any of our Cafe Press products.

Third Prize: $10 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

You can find the rules and more information at http://www.fandanglemagazine.com/wildfire. Be sure to tell all your friends and family about it!

Nancy A. Cavanaugh
Editor, Fandangle Magazine

The editor of Fandangle Magazine has announced a contest for kids! The contest is open to kids ages 6-10 years old who reside in the United States. For more details, click HERE.

Hi, everyone. Do you like to go sledding? I thought I'd bring this to the top again since so many in the USA are being covered with snow today! I have a poem called "Too Fast!" in the January, 2007 issue of Fandangle Magazine. Nancy used a perfect piece of clipart to go with the poem. http://fandanglemagazine.com/ Here's a direct link to the .pdf. Click HERE. My poem is at the bottom of page