The John Bellairs Walk is a tour of the author's hometown, the historic Marshall, Michigan, focusing on the area landmarks and locales used as inspiration throughout his novels staring Lewis Barnavelt, Anthony Monday and Johnny Dixon. The tour was the brainchild of the late Ann LaPietra, proprietor of the kids' place bookstore from 1986 to 2006, who celebrated Bellairs' birthday each January with the usual party atmosphere: cake, games, and reminiscences.

"One year two older gentlemen got into an argument over whether John Bellairs was the best or worst busboy Schuler's restaurant ever had. Another year the party was based on The Eyes of the Killer Robot, featuring a gentleman from the robotics department of a local college, with assistants, and two robots - one programmed to throw a ball, the other to 'serve' chocolate chip cookies."

With no new book going into 1989, LaPietra decided to invent a walking tour of Marshall, similar to the city's already famous annual Historic Home Tour. The idea was an immediate hit. With guidance from both Marshall historian Richard Carver and correspondence from Bellairs himself, LaPietra's carefully researched list struck a chord with locale residents who volunteered to portray the popular characters at significant points throughout the tour.

The following year (1990) the tour won the Lucile Micheels Pannell Award, given by the Women's National Book Association to honor a creative program that brings children and books together.

In recent years the area schools have conducted the tours during Michigan Week (mid-May) for local and visiting elementary-aged children. At other times the tour is self-guided with maps available at both the Chamber of Commerce office and kids' place. LaPietra reminds us these are necessary as Bellairs took a lot of poetic license with geography in his fictional New Zebedee.

Another important note is that the tour remains outside: it does not lead anybody through the various buildings.

"Bellairs's first three books (House, Figure, and Letter) really capture the Marshall spirit and are easily recognized by Marshallites," notes LaPietra. "People come or write to Marshall because of John's books and the tour allows everyone the chance to enjoy the city and stretch our imaginations, much as John's was inspired by his surroundings as a child."