Sandy Ives

Sandy Ives, a folklorist at the University of Maine, plays a pivotal role in Mike Hanlon's investigation into Derry's hidden history. His work collecting oral histories—what he calls "yarns"—provides Mike with a crucial alternative to the town's official, sanitized records. Ives's methodology, which values the living voices of old-timers over written documents, becomes the key that unlocks the pattern of cyclical violence haunting Derry.

Role in Mike Hanlon's Research

Mike Hanlon first learns of Ives from the dying librarian Albert Carson, who advises him to read Ives's work and then go see him in person. Following this advice, Mike reads Ives's cycle of articles on Derry, published between 1963 and 1966, and then travels to meet him. Ives's sources cross-reference those of the historian Branson Buddinger, but Ives had spent his career setting down oral histories almost verbatim, a practice Buddinger would have dismissed as taking "the low road." Mike buys Ives a dinner at the Orinoka, a restaurant where the meal "seems to never end," and pumps him for information. From Ives, Mike fills a notebook with names and addresses of the old-timers Ives had interviewed, many of whom were already dead by the time Mike began his own work. Ives's approach teaches Mike to listen to the stories passed down through generations, a skill that proves essential for uncovering the truth about Derry.

Contribution to the Understanding of Derry's Cycle

Ives's oral histories, combined with Buddinger's written history, confirm a central, disturbing fact: "things really are not right here in Derry; things in Derry have never been right." This conclusion, drawn from the convergence of both men's research, validates Mike's own growing suspicions. The stories Ives collected, passed from old-timer to new old-timer, include accounts of the original settlers' disappearance in 1741, the Kitchener Ironworks explosion, and other inexplicable tragedies. By providing Mike with a network of contacts and a methodology that prioritizes the spoken word over the written record, Ives enables him to bypass the town's institutional amnesia and gather the evidence that ultimately forces him to call his childhood friends back to Derry. Mike's own notes, written in the library vault, explicitly credit Ives as a key source in his quest to understand the town's dark heart.