Marshall, Michigan has been home to a number of prominent citizens since Sidney Ketchum founded the Midwestern settlement over 170 years ago: Sam Hill surveyed the state's Great Lakes; Thomas O'Brien was an ambassador to Denmark, Japan and later Italy; Abner Pratt and Clarke Hovey were members of the state legislature as senator and representative, respectively; William D. Boyce, the founder of the Boy Scouts of America, owned a summerhouse in Marshall; Isaac Crary and John Pierce forged Michigan's public school system under an oak tree; and merchant Jeremiah Cronin Jr. built a house.

The majestic Italianate structure was built in 1872 and its ominous size - we're told the house's mansard-roofed tower rises sixty feet, the highest point in town - and attractive interior reflected the status of the Cronin family in Marshall. For decades it caught the eye of city visitor and resident alike - including a young John Bellairs.

Born in 1938 as the oldest of three children, young John found historic homes and buildings such as the Cronin House all throughout his hometown and encountered them daily walking to and from school, visiting the library, and attending Mass at church. Overweight, often alone, and yet a highly imaginative child, John found familiarity and comfort in these locations, and would often escape into fantasized adventures during his explorations around town.

A voracious reader in his youth, by his teenage years John had made new friends by joining Boy Scout Troop 122 and by moving from parochial to public school, where he was active in journalism and the Latin and Chess clubs.

Growing up in this environment deeply affected John, who would go on to combine these detailed and cherished sights and sounds into a series of beloved adventures later in his life.