You may have heard Dionne Warwick sing “…What’s it all about, Alfie?” You may have seen the movie “Alfie”. We remember the cat Alfie. Met Alfie in 1975 when I moved into a 15-story Honolulu condominium. Alfie lived on the fourth floor, and he was famous for falling four floors. And surviving. Alfie leaped for a bird that lit on his balcony, missed the bird, landed in a tree beside the swimming pool. Swimmers helped
Country Doctor
Spending my summer in a small Indiana town , surrounded by corn and soybean fields as I write World War II historical fiction. Went to see my “Country Doctor” the other day. Besides my health, we have another common interest—book writing. Both of us have published a book with an independent publisher. Neither of us made the best-selling list. Four years ago, I bought and read his book: “Surviving and Thriving with a Chronic
Objectivity
In 1991 I wrote a letter to one of my journalism students that read “Journalism teachers stress that you include both sides in a controversial story. During 1949-1950, I edited “The Daily Texan”, the student newspaper at the University of Texas. I wrote columns and editorials, and suggested editorial cartoons—all criticizing racial segregation. Because of my editorials advocating an end to segregation, I received a cross burned in my honor at the Law School,
An Auction for a Veteran
“You wiggle your hand, Honey, you bought something.” The auctioneer got a laugh from the 90 plus people gathered in the VFW hall. Another laugh came when he put the Victoria Secret tote bag up for bids. “And there are other secrets in this bag.” Family and motorcycle friends were there on this Sunday afternoon to raise money for my second cousin Mike. Many had donated items for the auction. Mike wasn’t there. He is in
42
At age 12, I learned a different kind of “Bridge”, the sophisticated four-handed card game. A rancher named Jim Sedberry, and his two children, taught me “42”. You play “42” with dominoes instead of a deck of cards. Points are calculated from multiples of fives on the dominoes. This domino bidding game is named for a 42 “grand slam”. If you bid and win all seven “tricks”, you score 42 points. This game taught early-in-life ranch
Texas Rangers 2
Another Texas Ranger story I once reported, circa 1960s, told about the Ranger who raided a gambling game near Sweetwater, out in our West Texas. When the Ranger parked his pickup, the boys sitting at the table got a warning, took all the money and chips off the table, but held the cards they hadn’t shone. Six foot, seven-inch tall Texas Ranger walks in, leans near the door, watches, says nothing. Says nothing some more.
Single Engine
“If you have time to spare, go by air.” Said often by we licensed, single-engine, non-instrument rated private pilots. Storms, fog, darkness, repair frequently made us wait our one-engine, four person plane on the ground. Six decades later, I remembered that old saying because we had waited nine hours to board, for the second time, an airline flight from DFW to Indianapolis. The first morning boarding lasted 30 minutes. Then the pilot
When Mama Flew Solo
Drop in on any hanger flying session and somebody is probably retelling their first solo flight when the instructor steps out of the plane and says, “Fly around the field twice and then come in.” The mother of four wrote that her heart started palpitating. Slightly “rattled” she turned onto the wrong taxi strip, a mistake similar to driving the wrong way on a one-way street. She called the airport tower and asked permission to
World War II Remembrances
The summer I graduated from high school, the Japanese surrendered. World War II veterans I met in college, and after I went to work in Abilene, told me their experiences. Here are four deceased veterans who I will never forget. In Abilene, Lee Finch managed a regional insurance office. In the Philippines, Marine Sargent Lee Finch fought on Corregidor Island. When General Stillwell surrendered, the Japanese imprisoned Lee in a Yokohama POW camp, forcing him
Passwords
You may have seen those dreaded words…”reset password” and almost cried. I did. When you have exhausted all your children’s birth years, spent your graduation dates, sacrificed the last four digits of your zip code, what other numerals can you easily remember–if any of the above? If you reset your password with something similar to what you used before, how does that inanimate machine know to tell you not to repeat yourself? To paraphrase Rudyard