Wednesday, April 21, 1999
Dickens back in Waynesville
Writer slammed Warren village, great expectorations
BY RANDY McNUTT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
WAYNESVILLE — All he wanted was a brandy to clear his world-famous throat.
Author Charles Dickens had endured profane and tobacco-spitting passengers, bumpy roads and overeager admirers when he arrived here by stagecoach after midnight on April 21, 1842. But when he asked for a stiff drink at Waynesville's coach stop, the innkeeper — a staunch temperance Quaker — pulled out a pitcher of water instead.
Dickens was incensed. Later, in his book American Notes, he referred to Waynesville as a town of “squalid mud huts” and disagreeable people.
On Saturday, the Warren County village has a chance to make amends, albeit to a Dickens descendant. Gerald Dickens, 35, will speak at Waynesville Middle School about his famous great-great-grandfather.
Gerald Dickens, who operates a theater company and gives lectures, lives in Burwash, East Sussex, England. Last year, he made 61 appearances in the United States.
His one-man show, Mr. Dickens Is Coming — written, produced and acted by Gerald Dickens — lasts just over an hour.
“He does all the voices and he's absolutely electric,” said his manager, Caroline Jackson of Arlington, Va. “Gerald tells about the life of Charles Dickens, who lived in poverty at one time.”
Admission is $1.25 — the amount Charles Dickens paid for a ticket to take his irritating stagecoach romp through Ohio.
“We've been working on this for months,” said local historian Dennis Dalton, whose idea was backed by several businesses. “But Gerald and his wife were expecting their first baby. Luckily, he was born on April 10 — Cameron Thomas Charles Dickens.”
Though Charles Dickens didn't have a pleasant time in Waynesville, you'd never know it today. About 14 years ago, merchants decided to build a holiday tradition around the writer of A Christmas Carol and its enduring characters. The “Old-Fashioned Christmas” festival still attracts more than 20,000 people.
Going from Cincinnati to Columbus, Mr. Dickens rode on top of the coach, next to the driver, to avoid being hit by other passengers' tobacco juice.
“He said riding on some roads was like riding a stagecoach up a staircase backwards,” Mr. Dalton said. “Mrs. Dickens had to be tied to the coach with handkerchiefs because the roads were so bumpy.”
Gerald Dickens is impressed with Mr. Dalton's knowledge of Charles Dickens' trip through Ohio, Ms. Jackson said. Although he hadn't planned to visit the United States until November, the offer to speak in Waynesville — the old temperance town itself — intrigued him.
“This time,” Mr. Dalton said, “I think we can find a drink for Mr. Dickens at the carryout.”
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