Everything I Love

An octogenarian looks back at a world that no longer exists. His autobiographical essays show us a child growing up on a farm during the Great Depression. They take us through the tense days of World War II, when a letter from home might evoke either joy or anxiety. A teenaged seaman rides out a typhoon in the western Pacific and confronts inquisitive cattle ashore. A senatorial candidate barnstorms Texas in a helicopter; and impoverished recluses befriend squirrels and pet hens. A reluctant soldier dodges enemy fire in Korea and witnesses tragedy when friendly artillery falls short. After uncooperative reality shatters fond dreams, another tragedy forces a decision that opens the way to a new world.

While the physical world is painted in vivid hues, the people crossing its stage comprise an ever changing kaleidoscope of even brighter color: A captivating Indian maiden, a septuagenarian tippler, a trio of abandoned children, a Hollywood stunt man, a sad-eyed teenaged prostitute, Chinese paper boys, and more. Toddler to antiquity, birdbrained to brilliant, they spring from many countries and even more cultures. All these and more, slated soon to fade from perishable human memory, are immortalized in this stunning set of essays.

The author's education began in a two-room country schoolhouse on the Texas prairie. As a youth he worked in cotton fields beside migrant Hispanic laborers. He rode out a typhoon on a Liberty ship during a stint as a merchant seaman; launched and operated a bulldozer business; and served as a combat engineer in the Korean War. Overcoming the handicap of being a high school dropout, he taught post-doctoral students at a major university and published bio-medical research. Later he served as a research specialist with a large aerospace firm. He currently lives in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and a large, affectionate dog.