Bookworm's spirit lives on 24 years after his death

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - Michael Roston has changed hundreds of children's lives since he died 24 years ago.

Consider Staci Lehman-Ortiz.

When people ask her what made her what she is today - an anchor at KSWB Channel 5 News in San Diego - she travels back to fourth grade. And she tells them the story of Michael, an unusual little bookworm she never met.

Michael "Mikey" Roston was born in 1964. When he was 3, his dad, Maxwell, a beloved physician, noticed his son's eye was protruding slightly. Doctors found a cancerous tumor behind the boy's sinuses.

Michael underwent painful radiation and chemotherapy, and the tumor vanished. The only trace of sickness was a pituitary gland damaged by the treatments. It stunted his growth.

When Michael started school, he used to tell his mother, Nira, "The kids will make fun of me because I'm short, but when they get to know me, they'll like me."

Michael was a sensitive boy. He once organized a carnival in his yard to raise money for muscular dystrophy. He was careful not to hurt the family housekeeper's feelings when he tidied up after her. He would sneak after the woman, rearranging the sock drawers she upset and putting kitchen implements back in their proper places.

He loved baroque music as much as the Beatles. He was an avid matchbox-car collector, even carrying his box with him when the family went out to eat.

"A very unusual little boy," is how family friend Charlotte Abrams describes him. "He was almost like a grown person rather than a child. He preferred the company of adults to children."

If grown-ups arrived at his house and his parents were out, the Stoddard Elementary student would serve a tray of refreshments and engage them in conversation.

"People used to say to me, `Is he real? Or is he an old man?"' his mom remembers.

When Michael was 10, he began losing weight and energy. The cancer was back. This time it was a brain tumor.

He was determined to beat it. When surgery paralyzed his left side, he immediately set out to learn to write with his right hand. There was homework to do.

A tutor gave him sixth-grade lessons at home. When he wasn't too sick to leave the house, his mom would drive him to the library. It was his favorite place. He loved story time. And he loved books. He was an avid reader, gobbling up Hardy Boys mysteries.

When a World Book Encyclopedia saleswoman came to his house, the 11-year-old signed up - to become a salesman. He worked the phones. For every set he sold, he donated the money to his Jewish temple.

His goal was to sell enough to win his own set, recalls Rowena Earnest, the now-retired encyclopedia saleswoman who got him involved. Michael finally did it. The set arrived the day he died.

His mother knew he was going to die. And, she says, so did he.

"And he knew I knew he knew," she said.

A few weeks before the end, he told her that he wished someone would just give him an injection so he didn't have to wake up anymore.

The week before his death, he scolded his mom for never doing anything for herself and ordered her to get out of the house and buy herself a new handbag and shoes.

That same week, he gave his older brother his stereo, saying that when he got better, mom and dad would buy him another one. He gave his kid sister his camera.

He died at home on May 17, 1976 - one month before his 12th birthday.

And that is when he began changing lives.

His parents met with Anaheim library officials to set up an endowment for the Michael L. Roston Creative Writing Contest for fourth- through 12th-graders who live or go to school in Anaheim.

"It keeps alive the good in him," Nira said.

Today, Mikey's spirit is not just alive, it is soaring. His contest has taken on a life of its own.

Students look forward to it. Teachers volunteer to judge it. Librarians applaud it.

School principals, Scout leaders, librarians, business executives and city dignitaries pack the contest's various committees.

The Kiwanis club has donated money for plaques. The Friends of the Anaheim Public Library donates money to buy medals. The Friends of the Canyon Hill Library sprang for a computer for last year's grand-prize winner. The Anaheim Arts Council pays to publish the winning poems and essays in commemorative booklets.

The collection is cataloged at the central library on Broadway. It sits on a shelf in the children's wing next to "The Laughing Book," right below "Busy Buzzing Bumblebees."

This year's contest deadline was Feb. 26. More than 2,000 entries were submitted. In the next few weeks, they will be categorized and scored.

On May 3, every youth who entered will be invited to gather at the Brookhurst Community Center for an awards ceremony. Winners get medallions and $25 to $100.

It's a real grown-up shindig with a nationally known writer. The first speaker was Ray Bradbury in 1978. This year, it is violinist and author April Halprin Wayland, who wrote "It's Not My Turn to Look for Grandma."

Students who won years ago say they will never forget it.

Lehman-Ortiz was in fourth grade when she wrote "The Gymnastics Fall" and won. She decided right then to find a career in storytelling.

"When people ask how I ended up on the news, I tell them this story. That's really when I tapped into my love of writing. I have such fond memories," she said.

Fans of the contest like the recognition it gives to students who aren't into sports or other high-profile school activities.

Nira Roston, now widowed, lives in Newport Beach, where she is known for her fund-raising and dedication to the Jewish community.

"She keeps his spirit very much alive," said Friends of the Library liaison Mary Raffel. "She talks about him quite often."

It tickles her when strangers overhear her name and ask if she is related to the boy from the contest.

There is a provision in her will so that the contest will continue forever. Right now, there is about $30,000 in the fund.

When she stands at the podium calling out the winners, she thinks her son is smiling.

"I always feel like Michael is peeking through the door and saying, `What a wonderful idea this is, Mom.' "