A Historian's Tale, and a Mother's, Too

Her son falls ill, and a book project changes directions

By SCOTT HELLER

Providence, R.I.

It was only his elbow. And he was a kid, after all, able to snap back in a minute, to brush himself off and charge on, smiling.

So when a schoolteacher called to tell Joan L. Richards that her 10-year-old son, Ned, had fallen in the playground and hurt his arm, she didn't panic....