The lady–not much younger than me–remembers humorist Art Linkletter once said, “Old age ain’t for Sissies.” Not many older, or reworked than this old man. ‘Twas 1936 when Teacher discovered I couldn’t see the words, even after she moved me closest to the blackboard. In 2000 Surgeon implanted two new lenses, but I still hunt for my glasses on the bedside table when I wake up. Hardly remember that the Surgeons at Duke University hospital, circa
Category: Dick Elam
Model T Ford
Author Ellen Collier—she writes fun novels about 1928 Galveston and a ‘Flapper’ Sob Sister (that’s a woman journalist, young readers) —saw a Model T and became mesmerized. Fairly lost her mind writing about the early 1900s antique mass-produced automobile. Shucks Ellen, a still standing Model T isn’t a ‘Eureka’ discovery for this old college editor. I rode in a handsome classmate’s Model T in 1949. Back in the days when you didn’t need to add ‘..at
Shoot ‘Em Coming at You
If you’re also a “camera nut,” you will remember when your first photograph was published. I do. Jordan Steyer, a student at the University of Texas, recently wrote his thanks for the Maxine Smith Elam scholarship award and exuded the same enthusiasm for his published Daily Texan photos. Of course, publishing your photo these days takes only a punch or two on your I-phone. But not in 1944 when I was a weekend, high school “cub”
90th Blog
“The past is history, the future is mystery, and the moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called ‘the present’.” I quote from a “success” book written by Deepak Chopra, because on this October 11th day I receive the ‘present’ of a 90th birthday. Because I write this message on October 4, 2018, there’s still some mystery left. One birthday present will come when Amazon and Audible sell another “Anne Bonny’s Wake” audiobook. Maybe E-book
Hunting and Pecking
You read this yarn because even at nearly 90 years, I can peck a computer keyboard with only two fingers. “Hunt and Peck” on a typewriter was good enough when at age 14, the Abilene Reporter-News hired me, part time, to proofread and write sports stories. I only knew how to type with two fingers. Didn’t bother to take high school typing lessons. But at age 18, the University of Texas required you pass a