`HONESTLY ABE'

Cape native Charles Brame is the author of "Honestly Abe."

When he stands before the crowd with his thumbs tucked in his vest pockets and his bearded chin jutting out, Charles Brame seems less like a 20th century actor and educator and more like the man he is portraying -- President Abraham Lincoln.

Brame, a Cape Girardeau native who lives in Southern California, won the 1997 Lincoln of the Year award given annually by the Association of Lincoln Presenters. Now Brame is up for a second award, this time not for his performance as Lincoln but for a book he has authored about the 16th president.

The book, titled "Honestly Abe" and published earlier this year by the ABE Press of Alta Loma, Calif., has been nominated for the 1999 Barondess/Lincoln Award given annually by the Civil War Round Table of New York.

Brame calls the book "a political cartoon biography" of Abraham Lincoln. Each page has a political cartoon about something that happened in Lincoln's life or something the president said as well as a brief story or commentary that gives the historical background to the event or quote.

"It's more than just old wine in a new skin. In this work it's the skin that's different," Brame said.

"The cartoons make the intimate information about Lincoln enjoyable and easy to retain," he said.

Brame, whose background is as a history teacher, wrote the short stories about Lincoln, then handed them over to Edgar "Sol" Soller, a political cartoonist who drew the cartoon illustrations of the stories.

One cartoon shows a group of men at a bar drinking and offering disparaging remarks about women. Lincoln responds to the comments by saying that he doesn't believe what the men are saying about the women.

In his commentary, Brame explains that Lincoln did not subscribe to the view that women were the weaker sex devoid of common sense and apt to go astray. Brame even includes a short poem that Lincoln wrote as a schoolboy in Pigeon Creek, Ind.

"Whatever spiteful fools may say,

Each jealous, ranting yelper,

No woman ever went astray

Without a man to help her."

Brame started using stories about Lincoln and other historical characters as a part of his teaching method.

"I am a serious student of history and a strong believer in the anecdote is the antidote to boredom," he said.

As a serious student of history, Brame is quite ready to question whether certain stories long told about Lincoln are actually true, even branding some of the stories apocryphal. One popular story about Lincoln quotes Lincoln saying that a man's legs should be long enough to reach from his hips to the ground.

"As popular as it is, there is little valid historical evidence to substantiate it," Brame writes.

Brame taught high school history in Puxico, Commerce and Hillsboro before moving to California in the late 1950s. There he continued teaching on both the high school and junior college level.

Now in his 70s, Brame quit teaching in 1985 to devote full time to his one-man show, "The Living Lincoln." But he has been appearing and performing as Lincoln since 1975, when he was asked to portray Lincoln in an Armistice Day parade in San Bernardino. Since that time, Brame has presented his one-man show more than 2,500 times.

In addition, Brame, a member of both the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Radio and Television Actors, has been in skits with Jay Leno on "The Tonight Show" and has appeared twice in the sitcom "Cybill." He also appeared briefly in the movie "Happy Gilmore."

But it is Lincoln and the lore that surrounds him that Brame loves most. It is that love that compelled him to compile the stories and write the book.

The Barondess prize recognizes the best contribution to the appreciation of the life and works of Abraham Lincoln. Recipients of the prize have included novelist Gore Vidal, columnist William Safire and historian Garry Wills. Occasionally, it has been given to organizations, such as the Lincoln Home Site in Springfield, Ill., which received the award for this year.

"Apparently these well-respected scholars understand that 'Honestly Abe' is the ordinary people's Lincoln and appreciate its art and humor," Brame said upon hearing of his nomination.

"This puts me in the company of the best in the world, and I am honored," he said.