The names of the characters in the book changed over time. Jules had another name until the final editing. I changed it because the original name was too close to her real name, which I hope to keep private. I named the character Jules in honor of a good friend of mine. Jiggs was the actual nickname of my biological grandfather, but at one point in the writing process it became the name of the Yack-Yack Club owner. The club owner was renamed Mick for the final version. Cora Mae was always Cora Mae, as were Pinky and Hooch. The character of Nurse Maude “Maudlin” Murphy was Dr. Livermore’s wife in an early version of the book. It didn’t play out though because the female character had to be unhappily pregnant, and Dr. Livermore, a lecher of the worst kind. A photo of Jules is at left.
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Movies often have trailers at the end featuring scenes that were deleted. The title of my book, “Finding Baby Ruth,” nearly hit the cutting room floor after several people reminded me of the scene in the movie, “Caddyshack” where everyone scrambles from the swimming pool because of a mysterious floating object that resembles human waste. Bill Murray, who’s charged with cleaning the pool, jumps in, grabs the object, and holds it to his nose. It’s a Baby Ruth candy bar! Nevertheless, “Finding Baby Ruth” was the perfect title for my book because it references Babe Ruth, the ballplayer; Baby Ruth, the candy bar; Baby Ruth, the adopted baby; and Ruth, the real name of my adoptive grandmother.
Here’s another racy excerpt from Jules’s favorite author, Zane Grey. The paragraph was cut from my book’s historical notes because it was redundant. Grey writes in “Wildfire”: “Then their lips met again, and their hands locked, and they stood silent, straining toward each other. He held the slight form, so pliant, so responsive, so alive, close to him, and her face lay hidden on his breast; and he looked out over her head into the quivering moonlit shadows.”
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The scene where Jiggs demonstrates the amazing power of the Apex suction (vacuum) cleaner was originally going to occur at the home of Mrs. Grundy, who surely would have fainted at the sight of dirt on her carpet. The scene was moved to the park to make it a public event.
