Mrs. Starrett

Mrs. Starrett was the head librarian of the Children's Library at the Derry Public Library, a woman who genuinely liked Ben Hanscom and saw past his size to the thoughtful, polite boy within. She was a fixture of his childhood summers, a source of quiet encouragement and gentle wisdom. When Ben came in on the last day of school in June 1958, she greeted him with a standard witticism, asking if he was tired of summer vacation yet, and gave him a map of the United States for the summer reading program. She was charmed by his grave politeness and a little saddened by his size, believing he had treasures buried inside that would yield to a kind and patient prospector. She also warned him that the book Hot Rod was extremely bloody, urging it on teenagers to give them something to think about. When Ben bought a postcard to mail his haiku to Beverly Marsh, Mrs. Starrett was charmed by his politeness and saddened by his size, noting he was the only one at a table that could seat six. She reminded him to enjoy his summer vacation but not to forget about the curfew. Years later, when Ben returned to Derry in 1985 and visited the library, he asked Carole Danner about Mrs. Starrett. Carole told him she had died three years ago from a stroke at the age of fifty-eight or fifty-nine, and that Mike Hanlon had closed the library for the day in her honor. The news of her death opened a hollow place in Ben's heart, a reminder that the frosting on the cake of returning to one's past is sweet, but the stuff underneath is bitter.