"Jerry Todd Editor-in-Grief" by Leo Edwards, illustrated with black-and-white drawings by Bert Salg, Published by Grosset & Dunlap, New York, copyright 1930 by G&D, later printing with Caveman (1932) the last title listed in the Jerry Todd series and Sacred Pig the last title in Trigger Berg series at the end of the book. The titles that appeared in 1933 and later are not listed.

Hard boards, original red cloth with freckled fish on front board, black lettering on front board and spine [wear, soiling, rounded corners, light horizontal break in the back-board: see photos]; 5.1/4" x 7.1/2", endpapers are decorated with map of Tutter; name of the former owner on the verso of the half-title page, xx + 246 pages + 1 monochrome illustration on glossy paper + 4 pages of ads, a little soiling and wear, good/ very good condition.

In a previous story, someone donates a totem pole to the people of Tutter, IL. The cultured Leading Lady does not want to have it displayed in the park, and as her husband is the editor of the paper, all the press is against the pole. There is a second paper in Tutter, but it is run by a cantankerous old man who publishes it when he feels like it. Jerry and friends join up with this man to battle the established newspaper, but the man ends up being carted off to the nut house, leaving the boys to run the paper by themselves.

To draw attention to themselves and their cause, one of the boys vows to do a flag pole sitting act on the totem pole. However, the totem pole, the boy, and then the town jeweler all disappear, leaving Jerry and friends to unravel all of the mysterious events...

Edward Edson Lee (1884-1944), pen name Leo Edwards, was a popular children's literature author in the 1920s and 1930s. Initially forgotten after his death, Lee's books (most of them graced by the gaudy and idiosyncratic illustrations of Bert Salg) have become highly valued by juvenile book collectors. The 1990s power pop band Cockeyed Ghost took its name from one of Edwards' more obscure books, Trigger Berg and the Cock-Eyed Ghost.

US: Priority (c.2-5 days) ------------ $12.50
Canada: 1st Class (c.2-6 weeks) ------ $30.50
World: 1st Class (c.2-8 weeks) ------- $40.50