Imaging how it could have happened

The Unicycle

Emil was an old sailor, solid and strong, very lanky with long limbs. He had been known to be good at acrobatics with his family laughing and cheering him on as he climbed down his home’s steep stairs on two hands.

Nothing seemed to phase Emil except the phone call he received on a windy November afternoon, which surprised and rattled him. Placing the phone back in its cradle, he sat down on his green chair, a smile slowly forming on his weathered face. He knew exactly what he’d do.

Putting his hat on he told his wife perhaps the first fib of his very long marriage. He told Edna he was going to walk to the Lake to think, which he never really did as his wife was fully capable of thinking for him.

The north wind blew strongly as he forced his body to lean into the November gale. He waved at his Polish neighbor, Mrs. Mulchis, who was sitting on her cement porch wearing her always present babushka, heat or cold. He chuckled as he remembered she was the only one on the block who had her ice block delivered by mule. He would be called to haul it up her stairs but not before the neighbor kids would break off a chunk to crunch. Quickly he hurried past the McCarty house - Emil glanced in the side yard for the boys – “The McCarty Boys.” No one was there - probably looking for trouble, Emil speculated. At least they won’t be picking his strawberries this time of year.

Trudging down Baraga Avenue, he saw the lights on at the corner store, 7Up, which made him thirsty for Grape Nehi, frosty and cold, fresh from the pop fridge on the stoop. He saluted toward the store where the Greek clerk manned the cash register. Emil was frequently taken aback by her bushy mustache when stopping there for a treat. He smiled.

He reached the Queen City Bicycle Shop just as the flimsy door flew open from the wind whipping up from Lake Superior. This didn’t faze Kevin, the shop owner, as they were used to the winds slamming the door around. No need to lock them in this town.

Emil explained that he was looking for a unicycle and wanted to have a lesson in riding the one-wheeled contraption, as it was the only vehicle he could afford. Kevin stifled a laugh as Emil was over 70 but he was a paying customer, so taught him how to ride the bike in the front alley of the shop.

Kevin was amazed as Emil was a quick learner and soon able to maneuver it to his specifications. Emil paid for the cycle and headed back home up the hill on Baraga where he would hide the unicycle from his ever-present wife, as he knew the consequences of her tongue.

Evening came and another lie, telling Edna he felt like having a beer with his friends at the pub. So again, donned his cap but this time snuck down to the lower porch, where a family of Native Americans were living, to grab the hidden unicycle, then continued fighting north through the evening gale. Instead of a left turn on 3^rd toward the pub, he went right on down toward the nightclub. This was a first for him, as his wife felt the devil lived in the club and would never allow her husband to grace its doors.

Emil was getting excited about the prospect of being a celebrity and began visualizing the headlines in The Mining Journal. He also imagined the tongue-lashing his wife would give him in its publication.

These thoughts ran through his occupied mind as he neared the nightclub when a gust of wind ripped away the unicycle tossing Emil to the pavement and sending it flying down the hill toward Lake Superior. It was too far for him to run down and get the cycle as he had to be at the nightclub in ten minutes.

The Tricycle

“Dang it” he blurted out to the wind and started thinking of a solution. Hanging his head in thought, he spotted Peepee Pants Peter’s tricycle sitting on the wind-protected porch on 3^rd. Letting the pent-up tension from his cheeks, he snuck up to the porch, reached over the creaky rail, grabbed the small tricycle. Climbing on he pedaled his long legs, knees almost bumping his chin with each rotation, propelling him quickly to the club.

Emil steered the tricycle under the club’s awning -- considering it was not an automobile he decided it would be just fine to park it there. Lifting his tall body and unfurling his legs from the bike, he checked his clothing and put his hat on, then walked to the heavy wooden door of the building.

A rush of wind, the “November gale” grabbed hold of the door but his strong arms took control and Emil manually pulled the door shut as his eyes adjusted to the dark lobby. The music pulled him into the hall, his eyes slowly adjusting to the warm room. He wiped at his fogged-up glasses as he wanted to be the first to see his caller and wanted to look his best.

The host came up to him greeting Emil by name. “Everyone seems to know who I am”, he reflected, as all eyes in the packed nightclub turned toward him, some whispering behind their hand.

Emil’s heart was racing, both for whom he was going to be meeting but also, thinking of his wife, Edna, and how he would explain his lie to her. What if things didn’t pan out the way he imagined? Oh, she would be madder than the wet hens in the chicken coop in the back of his house.

The Meeting

There was a hush in the room - the crowd quietly parting as a small group of men in fedoras and flat hats strolled through the gap. Catching his breath, the men stood aside, as HE walked toward Emil hatless, holding out his hand to Emil’s hand.

“I hear we are the same height,” he said to Emil in his slow drawl. “I think you would be perfect, he continued, while still holding Emil’s sweaty hand in his gentle grasp.

Emil’s words were caught in his throat as he shook hands wondering where this was going when Jimmy offered him the opportunity of his life. “We are filming a movie here in Marquette and Ishpeming, as you may have heard. The movie is based on the book, Anatomy of a Murder, and it will be an honor if you would like to accept the role of my stand in double,” Jimmy asked. “You would need to stand in place to mark where I would be standing. Is this something you are interested in doing?”

Emil stumbled out his answer of “YES, I would be honored, Mr. Stewart. Absolutely. Tusen takk” he added forgetting the English of his adopted country.

Emil Olsen in middle of Eve Arden and Jimmy Stewart

This is a fictionalized yet true story of my grandfather, Emil Olsen, being part of the cast of the famous movie, Anatomy of a Murder, which included Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, and Joseph N. Welch. I like to think that Jimmy Stewart did shake grandpa’s hand, and that Emil was written up in Marquette’s The Mining Journal. I hope you enjoyed being pulled through Baraga Avenue in Marquette on my grandfather’s fictitious adventure