When the Bugles Call My Name


An original edition cover:

The MOTHER of All Drum Corps Novels

This was my first, well, my only drum corps novel. As far as I know, it is the only one of its kind. It follows the exploits of Richard Olderman as he joins a drum corps, the Darien Heights Dragoons, on the quest for a state drum corps championship. The book is a good introduction to drum corps. I set it in the late '70s, a time when drum corps was starting to lose the balance between professional quality and amateur enthusiam in favor of the former. The era of the "cross-town" or even "cross-state" rivalries ended around this era. I personally made this novel with the idea that children ages 11 and up could read it. Still, I think various ages would enjoy it. I would qualify it as my most sucessful book in terms of total readership. If you simply download it, of course, you don't make any richer. On the other hand, I think many will want to have the actual book, as there's nothing quite like having a good paperback novel to stuff in your pocket. 

Incidentally, I thought that on this page I might provide you with some pictures of drum corps in action. Sadly, there are fewer than three dozen left! Anyway, here are some pictures you might find of interest.


Here's the Boston Crusader's drum major directing a corp in concert:




Here's the Garfield Cadets in concert about the time they won the DCI (82?). One of my friends from Oakland Crusaders played baritone with them.


Here's a corps at camp. They're about the same age as Darien Heights:

Links to other sites on the Web

Back to Fiction
First half of the novel
Second half of the novel
Visit the Drum Corps International Website


If you like this want, email me.


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