Around the World with Freida Marie Crump
1997 · Published by The Consortium Publishing Company, Jacksonville, Illinois; Robert L. Crowe, editor. Dedicated to Dr. Charles Frank.
Published in 1997, Around the World with Freida Marie Crump gathers about thirty of Ken Bradbury's weekly newspaper columns into a single book of travel humor. Writing under the persona of Freida Marie Crump, the news correspondent from the fictitious town of Coonridge, Illinois, Ken sent his readers postcards from London, Paris, Rome, Moscow, the Bahamas and beyond. Based on Ken's own real-life travels leading students and friends on round-the-world excursions, the columns view the world's great sights through Freida's Coonridge eyes, with her bewildered husband Herb tagging along to provide the casualties. As Ken put it, "writing through Freida's eyes has allowed me to be a bit more honest than if I'd signed my own name to the travel journals."
It was Ken's second book, following The Coonridge Digest (1994). The collection is dedicated to Dr. Charles Frank, the Illinois College professor of English Literature whose lectures, peppered with tales of his own European journeys, first gave Ken the itch to travel. In the book's opening, Ken explains where Freida came from and why he kept bringing her along:
When my alter-ego, Freida Marie Crump, was born, I began to take her with me. She and Herb have seen the same sights as I. They've been with me through the dark alleys and bright boulevards, and have enjoyed themselves immensely. What you're about to read is true … only her Coonridge slant has been added. I think Dr. Frank would approve.
The first travel book I ever read was Steinbeck's Travels With Charlie, when I was in seventh-grade in Mrs. Daigh's class at Perry Grade School. I can remember the adolescent thrill of being jerked away from Pike County, Illinois, and thrown out onto the world's highways. Dr. Frank's spirit has traveled with me over many of Steinbeck's roads. I only regret that the playwright took my title. I'm still traveling with Charlie.
And here is Freida herself, reporting home from London in the voice that Coonridge readers came to expect:
Whenever somebody asks me, "Freida, out of all the wonderful places you've been, what's your favorite?" I always respond, "My top three picks are London, London, and London." Actually, no one ever asks me that question, but if they ever do, I'll have my answer ready.
The Tower of London is always a great attraction to American tourists. We are burdened with the job of waitin' for four years while a nincompoop holds political office, then sittin' through the burden of TV ads for re-election before we can get shed of him. It's nice to stroll around a place where they simply whacked off their heads. As could be expected, Herb ate up the tales of blood and gore as the Beefeaters shouted out their history to us. He's more used to head-choppin' than I, havin' served on the preacher evaluation committee for fifteen years.