An aura of nostalgia permeates this novella about friendship hearkening back a century to less cynical times.
It’s the 1920s and Samuel Peabody Elliot (Peabo) is a bookish young man who loves sports, but, because he can’t play them well, he has few friends in his circle. He’s raised by caring parents in privileged circumstances who support his passion to become a sportswriter. For this, he attends Harvard and establishes himself as a top sports reporter for the Crimson student newspaper.
Peabo covers all sports but his favorite by far is football. His admiration for Harry Gardner, star of the Harvard team, is evident by stories glorifying the star’s individual achievements. One day he’s surprised to be confronted by his hero in the newspaper office, then alarmed upon hearing Gardner’s there to lodge a complaint:
“‘ It’s always Gardner this or Gardner that. Knock it off, will ‘ya. It’s embarrassing and unfair to the rest of the team. I play hard, sure, but so do all the other players. Enough of the hero stuff, already. Lighten up and focus on some of the others. How ‘bout writing about the coaches, the cheerleaders, the groundskeepers, or the mascot for heaven’s sake? Anybody, but me.’”
Peabo’s taken aback by this humility, but also relieved and happily obliges. This mollifies Harry to launch what on the surface would be an unlikely friendship between jock and nerd. But they discover that underneath they are much alike. For Harry, despite his heroic popularity, is closer to the longer image of Peabo than that of big-man-on-campus.
One reason is Harry’s origins are far humbler than Peabo’s. Blamed for his mother’s death, he was spurned by his father and effectively orphaned. His tuition is covered, but he’s on his own after he graduates. While Peabo’s career path is clear and promising, Harry’s is indeterminate. His athletic prowess isn’t as valuable in an era when professional sports are still in their infancy. Sports connect these friends, but literature and other factors bond them beyond Harvard as Peabo pursues his career while Harry travels to Europe to mingle with the so-called Lost Generation.
Both Harry and Peabo are fictional characters who exist in an actual historical setting and participate in what appear to be actual events, but quick research reveals the described games in the story never happened as depicted, or even at all. As if the Peabo-Harry story is an overlay over reality.
This gives The Legend of Harry Gardner a lore essence that makes it suitable for grandfatherly sharing. One can imagine an aged Peabo, with a faulty memory, inventing the particulars as he goes along. Because verisimilitude and statistical details are not as important as expressing an impressionistic, nostalgic representation of friendship, as well as an idealistic notion of “legend.” Nonetheless, the engaging descriptions of the Harvard Crimson games, accurate or not, add a strong sports feel along with further substance and drama.
After Gardner’s heroics in the Harvard-Yale rivalry, Peabo composes a Longfellow-style poem that bears the novella’s title and is syndicated across the country. In the same sense, this prose version is a heartfelt ode to fellowship and the eternal value of friendship. A dearth of cynicism and contrived conflict ensures an optimistic, somewhat sentimental depiction of human nature, and a touch of ironic wistfulness with an ending that’s on point.
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