REMEMBERING TERRY

TERRY COTHRAN's daughter Amy (the pretty blond above) dropped me a note along with the above tribute to her dad. In the note she said the following:

"..Terry died of complications due to Multiple Myeloma. He came down with this bone marrow cancer in Fall of 2010. He had been receiving treatment for many years and was doing really well. The Cancer flared up this past spring and even though he had had a tumor removed by radiation in May, the Cancer attacked his bones, which that type of Cancer does. He was very brave and never thought he would lose the battle. He was making design plans for his house, and doing small projects up until the last month of his life. He had to go into hospice for pain management and the fact that the chemo wasn't working anymore in August. The last week of his life is when he really took a turn for the worse. We were there with him when he left this world. My mother, brother and myself were the only ones in the room. He died at home where he wanted to be. He left very peacefully and still as handsome as ever. My father never got old, just sick. He still thought young, dressed young and acted young until the end. He was very proud of where he came from and spoke with much love when talking about his Ballinger friends. He was proud to be one of you. I hope he will be remembered for how brave and young at heart he was."

Yes, Amy, he will be remembered for all of the above. 

Any of you who would like to contact Amy or her brother Kelly, I have her permission to give her email address.

Peace and Love,

Marilyn

WE SAY GOODBYE TO ANOTHER

September 20, 2013

Jerry Ann Pruser Eaton

Mineral Wells Index

Jerry Ann Eaton, 74, passed away in Weatherford Sept. 17, 2013, with her family at her side. Ann was a beloved mother, sister, grandmother and friend to many.

She was born in Ballinger on Sept. 28, 1938, to Oscar and Velera (Fox) Pruser.

Ann retired as a secretary in the Oil & Gas industry, but also worked for many local businesses after her retirement, Baum Carlock Bumgardner being one of them. She was a very strong supporter in all of her organizations she was involved in such as The Catholic Daughters, American Legion and Desk & Derrick.

She is survived by her sons Norman Eaton, Dwain and wife Joy Eaton; sister Kay and her husband Fred Smith; granddaughter Scarlett Eaton and grandson Andy Farr; nephews Brad, Michelle and Thomas Smith of Dallas, and Gauntt, Keren and Halley Smith of Seattle, Wash.; and numerous cousins.

She was preceded in death by husband Riley Dwain Eaton in 1982.

Rosary will be at 6:30 Friday, Sept. 20, at Baum Carlock Bumgardner Funeral home in Mineral Wells. The Funeral Mass will be held at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church Sept. 21 at 10 a.m.

Condolences may be left at www.bcbfuneralhome.com.

Baum-Carlock-Bumgardner Funeral Home

*************************************

Until we meet again...

Love and peace,

Marilyn

DOES A BEAR SLEEP IN THE WOODS?

I received an email from PEGGY BRANHAM KRUMLINDE over the weekend with the following:

"Our visitor last night at 11:30. We had another one night before last at 9:30."

When I spoke of seniors living an exciting life, this is not exactly what I had in mind, Peg! She went on to tell me the following:

"We are in our RV on our lot in Pendaries (Pan-da-ray), 22 miles north and east of Las Vegas, NM - 80 miles from Santa Fe. We are at 8,000 feet, and have a lot of pine and oak here. The bears are hungry this year due to the drought, although we have had our annual monsoon season - it was a little late in August this year. We have to have all our bird feeders brought inside by around 5:00 every afternoon so the bears won't get them.

We will be winterizing on the 16th and return home to Albuquerque for the winter. It is already down in the 40s in the mornings here, and we have to use heat for an hour or so every day. It is warm during the afternoons, but drops back down by about 5:00 every afternoon and continues to get colder as the night wears on. It is truly beautiful here - we love to fish and are 20 minutes from Morphy Lake State Park north of us at 10,000 feet. Lot of rainbow trout - yummm."


What I'd like to know is do the bears ever go fishing, too? Seems I've seen a lot of videos of them doing just that -- and in the daytime!

***************************

JERRY EOFF dropped me a note as well. "Of interest to some. The old Troop 42 scout hut/Catholic hall - the barracks building across from the water tower, was destroyed by fire this morning (Sunday, 9/8)."

I remember the building. Sorry I don't have a picture. I was there for a family reunion for someone a few years back and it was showing its age then. If I remember correctly, it was a frame building. With people using the kitchen facilities, I'm surprised it lasted this long. 

***************************

I still don't have any details of TERRY COTHRAN'S passing. I hope the family will have an obituary placed in the local paper - or the online Ballinger News. If/when they do, I will post it here.

I would like to do some kind of memorial for TER. If any of you would like to share a story or two - either from high school or recent years, I will be happy to publish that as well. In the meantime, to TER, a big fan of John Wayne movies, "Happy Trails to You".

Take care out there, and 

Peace,

Marilyn

MORE FROM OUR CLASSMATES

NOTE: I should have mentioned this before now, but if you will click on any photo, you will be shown an enlargement of it and all of the others in the post.

If any of you guessed that the other "adventurer" I mentioned in the last blog was DENNY HILL, you were right. However, I also heard from another classmate that must be added to the list as well. His update follows this one from DENNY.

"What is up is basically that I just keep on trucking.                                         

This summer I spent my usual month in Berlin, and two months in Warsaw. In Berlin I wound up making friends with the bartender and the cook at my favorite Kneipe (tavern or pub), which is "Zosch". Many nights I stayed until after they closed around 3am, and hung out, drinking free beers with the bartender and his friends after hours, usually until 4am or later, speaking only German, joking, telling stories, etc. It is amazing how fluent one becomes after enough beers. (The picture at right is the Zosch he speaks of, and Denny is the one on the end in a blue shirt next to the red candle.)

In Warsaw I made a breakthrough. For several years I had noticed that on my Rynek (my "market square) there was a compact group of 6 or 7 degenerates who seemed to be the "regulars" at the local "watering hole" (pub). I wrongly thought they must be a snobbish group, and I wrongly thought they spoke only Polish. But this summer somehow I managed to be inducted into this group, and now we are all friends.

They are very friendly, extremely funny, making jokes all the time, and quite helpful to teach me raunchy expressions in Polish. Here is the composition of the group (aside from me, the math prof.):

1.  A garage mechanic (speaks Polish and English)
2.  A taxi driver (speaks only Polish, except when drunk, at which point he speaks any language)
3.  A Polish couple (he speaks only Polish, but she speaks Polish and Italian)
4.  A Japanese who is in Poland because he represents some big company from Tokyo which plans to build power stations in Poland to make electric power. (He speaks Japanese and English)
5.  Another Polish couple (he speaks fluent Polish, German and English), she is the lead dancer in the Warsaw version of a "Moulin Rouge" type of "Review" (she speaks Polish, English, and can do a 180 degree split standing on one leg)
6.  Another Japanese who is the CEO of all of Mitsubishi in Poland. (He speaks Japanese, Polish, and strangely, Arabic)

Now I am in Shreveport, Louisiana, visiting my mother. But on Friday I have to return home in Port Jefferson, NY, to resume teaching, etc." Best regards, DENNY

**********************

Another candidate for our daring senior citizen list is BILL KING. He wrote the following and sent photos of what might be described as his hobbies:

"I have attached some pictures that depict the aging process for me. The red Harley was at one time my most enjoyable and relaxing mode of transportation. Then after I became a little older and not so confident in riding the Harley, I had to resort to a little more manageable mode of 

two wheel transportation, my red 1954 Cushman Eagle. The Harley had to find a new home, but the Cushman is still with me, easier to handle and fun to ride. Now I am becoming a little more comfortable with four wheels under me so I have discovered my 1957 Ford Thunderbird is a little easier to keep upright, besides 1957 was a great year. I have never gotten flying totally out of my system and will take a ride anytime one is available so a couple of shots of my ride in a hot air balloon in Albuquerque, NM that was fantastic.

Hope everyone is having fun."..BILL

 *****************************

Class President JAMES HAYS sent the following (and is also on our daring senior citizen list):

"I still work for a living supplemented by some retirement which I re-invest, mostly in old guns. I still fly and just made a trip in my 1941 Culver Cadet airplane to Iowa for the Antique Airplane fly-in this past weekend. I also am the Brown County Health Officer 'counting cockroaches' in restaurants. Lots of fun. I am also active in the Texas State Guard (hurricanes, homeland defense, NON-FEDERAL) from which I plan to retire this year, getting too old!!!  Lost my ex-sister-in-law to cancer, Judith Hampton Martin, last month - a sad year. (So sorry for your loss, James.)

(I know this is not your Culver Cadet, JAMES, but that's you in the cockpit.)

NYDAH ELLET is still in a nursing home and really enjoys getting and answering cards and brief letters. Address: Kensington Care Center, Rm 11, 849 N. Aurora Rd., Aurora, Ohio 44202. She can't handle a telephone well since her accident but writes well.  Drop her a note."..JAMES                                         

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I hear from JUNE HASH CURRY frequently. She says she doesn't do anything exciting. Most of us don't, June. However, she does play bridge twice a week. Keeps those brain cells growing! She also has two rescue dogs. I forget both of their names, but below is the cutest picture of the last one she got. This was not long after she and her son Chris brought the little one home, and it was terrified of men. Hiding behind the pillow! I think her name is Tracie.

*********************************

A good friend of mine in Ballinger who has been a realtor for 30 years wrote me that a millionaire from out of town had moved there and bought quite a few of the buildings in downtown. These buildings were the old Lynn Building, the old Western Auto, the old First National Bank next to Ballinger Florist, and the Texas Theater. Dot said he is restoring all of them and plans to have a water purification system put in. She also said that the EPA keeps fining the City for not complying with regulations, so they (the City?) are putting in a "reverse osmosis" water system. She then went on to say that the City is in compliance with the EPA -- surprise! As someone who has lived all over the U.S. in my lifetime, I have to say I never experienced worse municipal water anywhere! I hope this rumor is true.

8th St. & Hutchins Avenue

This was back in March, and I haven't heard more since then. NANCY THOMPSON BAKER was aware of some work being done on downtown businesses, but not much more. If anyone knows anything about these renovations, etc., how about letting me know?

That's it for now. If anyone thinks of something to share with all of us, just send it to me. I have not started volunteer work here yet, so I have more time on my hands.

Peace and love,

Marilyn

NEWS AND MORE NEWS

My recent request for news to publish on the class blog produced a few results. A couple of them are a little lengthy, so I will probably do them in two different posts. Thus, it will give those of you who haven't submitted anything a chance to do so. Also, for the most part, I don't have any recent individual pictures of you all. But then, maybe we would all rather be remembered as we looked at whatever last reunion we attended! I'm just sayin'.

PAUL MOTA was the first to respond. Thanks, Paul. Here's what he had to say:

"I only have mostly good news. Nothing much here. I am still retired, and just not doing much. My main problem is not pushing back from the table (PAUL, I think I remember you said that once before!), but otherwise I am in pretty good health - thanks to God. I have a trip to Las Vegas coming up next month. That's about it. My wife is in great shape - much better shape than I am. I wish I had more dramatic stories to tell you, but all is well. My daughter and her husband and the two grandchildren are still in the Houston area and all are fine."

**************************

DOTTIE BISHOP ROGERS, as usual, is not letting retirement grow boring. She said:

"Hey, it's so good to hear from you! Are you still enjoying those grandkids? (Me:Yes!) Mine are all doing well and so am I.

I went a little crazy last year and returned to teaching. Thank goodness, I came to my senses and re-retired. I have to say, unfortunately, it was not a good experience. I had been so blessed at the Texas schools in which I taught, I was fully unaware of the caliber of this school in Willcox, Arizona. I had some wonderful students, but those fifteen or twenty 'bad apples' sure spoiled the basket. I went into that school with the enthusiasm of one twenty years younger than I was, and I came out of the situation totally feeling my real age. Shriek!

(Downtown Willcox, AZ - Population 3,757)

On a good note, Larry and I motor-homed across Texas -- well, that was our initial plan, but we did enjoy the ten days we had even if the A/C went out, a water line burst in the motor home, we had two violent storms...we made it through unscathed and laughed. Of course, Larry immediately put the motor home on sale upon our return, but we played some super golf courses and it was fun. Since coming home, I have just done a few things around my house and am volunteering at the golf course." 

Now, DOTTIE, surely on such a fun, eventful trip you took some photos you can share?

**********************************

As we all know, we have a couple of real "adventurers" in our class who are still stepping out of the bounds of what most seniors their ages do. I've heard from both of them. Some of you who are on Facebook already know that GLENN SMITH is one of them. GLENN had this bit of news: 

"On the last day of April, I loaded my two dogs and myself and drove to Mexico. Took me four days to reach Ajijic where I am living. I have posted on Facebook a bunch of photos that I took here. They are under the name LEONARD GLENN SMITH. I'll be glad to become a 'friend' of any class member not already listed in that category.

As for my reason for the move - well that was multifaceted. I can't think of how to explain it briefly. I enjoyed the time in Ballinger and everyone was very nice to me there."

I questioned GLENN a little more about the place where he lives and he sent more info:

"Mexico is a little cheaper than the United States. Ajijic (I can't imagine how to pronounce this!) is more expensive than many similar sized Mexican towns, because lots of people have come from Canada and the States, and many of them are retired with enough money to inflate prices by spending more than the local economy was accustomed to."

In case any of you are interested and daring enough to move to Mexico, here's a little breakdown of the costs he sent:

"I pay $550 a month for a 2-bedroom, 2-bath furnished house. My internet and local phone cost $50 a month. Electricity is around $20 because no heat or air conditioning is needed. (Wow! imagine no a/c in the 100+ temperatures most of us in Texas have had this summer!) I have a gas water heater and stove. Gas costs about $25 a month. I have a washing machine, but no dryer is needed because afternoons are sunny and the air is not humid, so hanging clothes to dry is natural and effective. I don't have TV, but cable is available and costs are similar to 

(Photo at left is the entrance to his rented house with one of his dogs peering out. The one at right is a door near his house.)

the States. I have a car but haven't filled the gas tank since I arrived here four months ago. I walk to one of six places for breakfast every day. Eggs, toast, beans, jelly, and coffee cost about $5-$7, tip included. Walmart is a ten minute drive. Computers and TVs cost 50% more than in the U.S. Food costs on average about the same as if one were living in the States." 

*********************************************

Let's see how many of you can guess who the other "adventurer" is who will share his/her news with us in the next blog post. I hope to have an update on NYDAH ELLET in it as well. 

Also, I will share a rumor of a mystery millionaire who's supposedly bought up many of the old buildings in downtown Ballinger and is renovating them. If anyone has the latest news on his project - which he stated he is doing because he needs a tax break - send me what you know.

Until next time, send me all the news you wish to share.

Peace, and may all your news be "good stuff",
Marilyn

Post Script

Thanks to BILL KING for contacting PAUL MOTA for me. PAUL's emails regarding the blog had been returned to me, and I was a little concerned. This morning I got the following from him:

"It has been a long time since I have heard from any one of my former classmates, but it was very nice to know how everyone is doing. (I assume he caught up on the most recent blog posts.) I have been very fortunate to be doing well and, while not in perfect health, it could be a lot worse.

I retired from working at the base about 10 years ago and have just been taking it easy - and to be honest, eating too much. It is very difficult to lose weight, but I should have thought about it before it happened. 

I am still at the same address in San Angelo, and not much new to talk about. I am just enjoying seeing my daughter and her husband and our grandchildren in Houston. My favorite trip is going to Las Vegas in September, which we do just about every year. I also enjoy getting out to Llano for some BBQ, and to Fredericksburg to see the wildflowers - coming up soon.

I have been fortunate in finding a loving mate who has been with me for 49 years the 6th of March. All in all, life has been good to me, and when the bumps on the road have come along, I have had my wife to help me get over the rough spots.

That was a nice story about Glenn Smith. My wife reads a lot, and I will mention those books to her.

I wish everyone who reads this letter the best." PAUL

***********************

Now I have to apologize to DENNY HILL. I really messed up on the picture of what I thought was the street on which his Poland flat was located. I had the wrong street. I went back and put the correct picture in, but too late. Now I want to send you a better view and some of DENNY's comments about it:

"..this is really my street, just outside my building. In the photo you can see some umbrellas which say "Carlesberg". They are outside a restaurant, and my flat is over the kitchen of this restaurant, in the back; i.e., in the photos if you could go to your left, through the building, at those umbrellas, then you would hit my flat. The flat is actually not on the street which you see in the photo, but rather in some interior courtyard in back, behind the restaurant.. This photo perhaps gives the best rendition of how it is there in the summer, when people eat outside."

DENNY purchased the flat from the owner of the restaurant, "Fret a Porter". Strange name for a restaurant, but I suppose it is in Polish. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful. And these two photos of the interior of his flat are much too neat to belong to an "old bachelor" like DENNY:

Tell me, ladies, do those pots and pans look like they have been used??

Of course, you know I am just teasing you, DENNY. The other photos of his flat are really lovely, but his friend that sent them at first sent them in a format I was unable to use for the blog. I can see how he would enjoy living in such a place during the summer months.

********************************

Before I forget, as some of you know, I moved this past December, as the folks I rented from in Burnet decided to sell the house. (Times have been hard on everyone!) I now live in Austin, only three and a half miles from my younger son, Matthew and his family. My daughter and family will be building a new home in four years on Lake Austin, as her husband will begin his third career as a professor at UT, teaching (I think) computer programming. Now all I have to do is get number one son Craig to move down here! I love my new location. If you are planning a trip to Austin, drop me a note at my email address and maybe you can come for a visit!

If anyone else has moved, has a new email address, or anything newsworthy to share with us, just send me an email. Until next time, may you have nothing but good stuff happening!

Peace and love,

Marilyn                                            

I have been so busy with my dad's affairs as well as moving to my new home in Austin that I got behind and thought it was about time to do an update or two. I recently wrote JAMES HAYS to inquire about NYDAH ELLET's condition. This is his reply:

"NYDAH has actually dictated two letters or rather notes to me.  The writer on the first one didn't spell her name correctly, so she printed her name correctly, very shakily, but legible, barely.  The second was written by a feminine hand.. She said she enjoyed getting letters and notes from friends, and she is still at the Aurora, Ohio address.  She can dictate letters for someone else to write.  I think her daughter Donna helps her write. Her address is the same:

NYDAH ELLET
Kensington Care Center
Room 11
849 N. Aurora Rd.
Aurora, OH
44202

Saw JERRY PIEL STEEL today.  She has changed very little over the years.

I am still working 30 hours a week, still help out in the State Guard, and I am the County Health Officer (cockroach counter)."

***********

Back in October I inquired about TERRY COTHRAN's son Kelly. This was his reply then:

"Kelly has had two surgeries to correct one of his problems, the first one didn't work for him but the second one seems to be working so far. He is still trying to get The VA to reschedule the surgery on his right ankle. He is at the point now where he has a really tough time walking on that right foot. We are still waiting for the VA and Social Security to come through with some money." (Kelly has been unable to work due to his medical condition.)

 About a month later, TER wrote:

"Kelly is doing better since the last operation to correct (some of) his problems.. He is now functioning fairly normally.. He is still waiting for the VA to come through with the surgery on his ankle. It is very painful for him to walk and he uses a cane. He still has no income."

                         ******************************************************
About a week ago, when the big blizzard hit the east coast, I saw where over 8,000 people on Long Island were without power. I emailed DENNY HILL in hopes he wasn't one of them. This is his reply:

"Actually I am snug as a bug, holed up in my house. For me there was no problem, because on Thursday I bought food for a few days and put my car in the garage. I did not lose power, internet or cable TV. The only mild thing is that the snow drifted up to my *** against my back door, so I had to dig it out just to exit from my house. (I got almost 3 ft of snow in  my back yard.) I am not even going to attempt to dig out my driveway, I'll just leave my car in the garage for a while. (I can take a bus to the university and back on those days when I have to teach..) Probably in a week or so the snow will have melted down to where you don't have to shovel it. I am a lazy dude."

We don't have to rub it in to DENNY the fact that we have had so many days (like today) of temperatures in the 70s and even 80s here in Texas!

I have some really neat photos of DENNY's flat (we call them apartments) he lives in during his summer stay in Poland. I'll try to get them posted before long. Here is the street where he lives while there:

I mistakenly posted the wrong photo of the street where DENNY lives when he is in Poland. He corrected me and sent the following: 

"This is my street. My place is way down at the end on the left, where you can barely see some umbrellas. So the shot is taken about one block from my place, looking down the street. But it is OK, because at least you can see how the buildings, etc. look.

*******************************

Last October PEGGY BRANHAM KRUMLINDE and her husband Guenter took a Mediterranean cruise. One of their stops was Rome, Italy. Here they are at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. She sent me a link to her photos of the whole trip, and it appears they had a wonderful time visiting many interesting places. A trip of a lifetime.

*************************************

Speaking of cruises, I'm sure all of you heard about the recent nightmare Carnival cruise. I kept thinking the ship's name sounded familiar. Sure enough, it was the Triumph! That's the same ship I cruised on with my daughter Carajean and her family in 2006! When I told her about it, her response was "Timing is everything!"

                                         ***********************************

I have a couple of requests before I close. There are two of our classmates that I have been wondering about. One is PAUL MOTA. The other is CHARLES FIKES. PAUL's emails were returned and I just haven't had a joke sent to me by CHARLES in a long while. If anyone of you knows the whereabouts of them lately, as well as BARBARA SHARPES BROOKS, I would like to hear from you.

Until next time...

May all of the "stuff" happening in your life be "good"!

Peace and love,
Marilyn

AND THE RAINS CAME!

What a difference a few days make!! Someone must have been doing rain dances. (Ann Burton?)  NANCY THOMPSON BAKER called a short time ago to tell me how much rain they are getting. The last time she checked they had received 9 inches in the past couple of days. And it's still raining. There's lots of area flooding, but the good news is the lakes are filling up for the first time in years. NANCY said the torrential rains are coming down all over the Concho Valley. She stated that as many as 100 cars had to be "rescued" from flooded streets in Midland. (Nancy has been known to exaggerate. ;-) Maybe you Midland/Odessa residents can verify the conditions there.)

These photos are from the Ballinger online newspaper. Go to http://ballingernews.com/, click on Front Page, and you can read about the rain and view 42 photos taken in the area. The Indian Friend statue by Hugh Campbell looks a lot different than it did a week ago, doesn't it?

Elm Creek picnic area at City Park

Elm Creek at Ballinger City Park

So many parts of Texas have been suffering severe drought conditions that, even with the flooding, the rains are most welcome and the answer to many prayers. We here in the Hill Country have also suffered from the drought. We have been having steady, gentle rain off and on again since yesterday. I'm not sure how much has fallen so far, but the Highland Lakes are in desperate need of water. Our water supply for Burnet has been Buchanan Lake until recent months, when the City had to resort to well water (which is extremely hard water) due to the low lake level. This area has been prone to severe flooding in years past. I hope we aren't due for that to happen again soon! 

I feel like Goldilocks. I don't want the lack of rain, but then again I don't want the floods. I want the rainfall to be "just right"!

Replenishing critical water supplies is what I have to say is really good stuff happening!

Peace and love,

Marilyn

UPDATE AT 5:15PM

NANCY just reported that the Elm Creek Dam in City Park has burst. Authorities have ordered evacuation of the part of Ballinger called "the flats", south of the highway ..

http://www.weather.com/weather/alerts/localalerts/USTX0070?phenomena=FL&significance=W&areaid=TXC399&office=KSJT&etn=0002

SECOND UPDATE FROM NANCY AT 6:15PM

"Okay, dam did not break..evacuation cancelled as river crested, so people told to go home (from Community Center)."

Flood waters fill the streets of San Angelo as seen on Oakes Street from the Post Office during flood of 1936.

Article on Glenn Smith, PhD

Those of you who live in Ballinger have probably seen this in this week's edition of the Ballinger Ledger. Those of you who haven't may be surprised to read that that shy Glenn Smith, lurking in the back row of the recent reunion class photo is a prolific author! Here is the article:

"Local man announces third novel to be released soon through Amazon.com. The title is Ultimate Thirst.  Authored by Glenn Smith, a Runnels County native who graduated from Ballinger High School in 1957, the book features a retired American Airlines pilot who travels the world if he must to help a friend in trouble.

The first novel in this series, titled Erotic Resolution, appeared in 2010. The second, called Texas Tango, came out in 2012. A third book featuring Flint Rock will be issued through the Kindle book store and also will be available in print format from Amazon’s Create Space division. They are easy to find on Amazon.com and are inexpensive. The Carnegie public library in Ballinger has the books as well.

Smith spent 40 years teaching at five universities, including Iowa State in Ames, the University of Oklahoma in Norman, and the University of Houston in Clear Lake City. He retired in 2003 from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb after having chaired for 10 years the largest of 46 departments in the university. Marquis’ Who’s Who in the World listed him in 2004.

What led Dr. Smith to start writing novels? When the Ledger asked, he said, “I had written nonfiction for St. Martin’s in New York and Allyn and Bacon in Boston. Living in Georgia after retiring, I had time to try something challenging. I wanted to draw on my west Texas roots. I had skipped lunch in high school to (secretly) take flying lessons and ended up owning four airplanes. And I’d travelled in 33 countries and lived in Latin America. I invented a character named Flint Rock—in honor of the Comanche arrow points I found on Elm Creek where I grew up north of Ballinger.”

“Flint was a rifle expert in the U. S. Marines, owns his own plane, and wears cowboy boots made by Mike Jass at a boot shop on Hutchins Avenue in Ballinger,” Smith said. “Flint Rock has attitudes with which I identify,” he added, “because Flint grew up in West Texas.”

The Ledger asked Smith what brought him back to Ballinger after an absence of 50 years. His reply: “I was living on Mansa Beach in Punta del Este, a resort town in Uruguay. Got an email reminder from Marilyn Moragne that the Class of ‘57 was having its 50th reunion. I flew back for that and decided to stay.

I’d seen a lot of nice places in Latin America and the south Pacific, but there’s no place like home. I bought a 63 year-old house on the bluff overlooking the park. In winter, with leaves gone from trees, I can see from my back deck Hugh Campbell’s beautiful statue celebrating Native Americans. In summer I hear kids splashing in the pool as Waylon Jennings sings from someone’s portable radio. Turns out I traveled a lot of miles and saw a bunch of great spots but none better to live in than Ballinger.”

The Ledger’s reporter asked Dr. Smith about another of his interests, namely hypnotism. He said he initially learned (in 1957) how to hypnotize people from Dr. J. Dexter Eoff, a Ballinger dentist who used it in lieu of anesthesia for patients who feared needles. We pushed for more information and learned that Smith graduated in 2003 from the National Guild of Hypnotists certification training and that he sees clients for individual or group appointments on a limited basis. He uses hypnosis only therapeutically, not for entertainment, and does not charge because insurance rarely covers it.

“I used hypnosis in the story told in Texas Tango, the second Flint Rock story,” he told us. “In that plot, a character, a psychiatrist, hypnotizes a woman to foil a diabolical plan and thereby saves a lot of lives.”

The Ledger reporter asked if a fourth novel is in the works to follow Ultimate Thirst.

“Yes,” he replied. “The fourth story is called Stolen Gold. A shipment of valuable bullion disappears in Ballinger, and Flint gets involved in sorting out rumors of a cave (or a network of caves) said to lie underneath the town with an entrance on the bluff above the park. After twists and surprises, including lies, ambushes, gunfire, and a Satanic plot, Flint and friends solve the mystery. In the end, Flint sells his house in San Marcos and moves to Ballinger. Because of the people there and because he likes to listen to the bells of St. Mary’s church as he walks down Crosson Avenue for a morning stroll in the park.”

When will Stolen Gold be available from Amazon?

'Some time before 2013,' Smith replied, then added, 'unless Flint Rock can’t find his way out of the cave under Ballinger.'"

Everyone can now go online to Amazon and purchase his books! This is really good stuff happening, just like the recent 55th Class Reunion!

Peace,

Marilyn