John Estes Cooke

Published under the pseudonym John Estes Cooke, Tamawaca Folks: A Summer Comedy is an autobiographical account of Baum's time spent in Macatawa Park, Michigan. After the success of Father Goose: His Book, Baum purchased a Michigan summer home that he nicknamed "the Sign of the Goose." Shortly after spending the first summer in his new home, Baum and other members of the Macatawa Park, Michigan community found themselves in the middle of corrupt local politics. Local developers and community...See more

Published under the pseudonym John Estes Cooke, Tamawaca Folks: A Summer Comedy is an autobiographical account of Baum's time spent in Macatawa Park, Michigan. After the success of Father Goose: His Book, Baum purchased a Michigan summer home that he nicknamed "the Sign of the Goose." Shortly after spending the first summer in his new home, Baum and other members of the Macatawa Park, Michigan community found themselves in the middle of corrupt local politics. Local developers and community organizers built summer cottages in the middle of public streets, subsequently charging current residents unreasonable fees and allowing the electrical and sewer systems to ruin. The novel tells the story of Jarrod, a Kansas City lawyer who comes to town for the summer and learns quickly of the community leaders' corrupt ways. Jarrod organizes the homeowners into a small resistance and effectively cleans up the town. The evil community leaders were based on the chief stockholders in the town, Fred Colby and E. C. Westervelde. Jarrod was based on Basil P. Finley, an actual lawyer from Kansas City who led the resistance in 1906. See less