Introduction

Downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, in the mid 1940’s was a bustling metropolis for a boy of 7 just away from the farm and ranch community where he was born. My father, a cook and cowboy by trade, had just started as one of the first cooks for the Casa Manana restaurant in 1947. He moved us to an apartment on Ohio Street, right across from the Gem Theater, between 7th and 8th Streets. It’s here that we would stay for the next three years. The Gem Theater became a magic palace for a young mind. But it had to share that distinction with the rest of the magic that was Wichita Falls. I attended San Jacinto and Carrigan elementary schools, as well as Reagan Junior High, and belonged to the Boys Club on 6th Street. Please join, and share your stories and pictures through a Guest Blog, of early Wichita Falls - or your home town. Contact me at fadingshadows40@gmail.com or leave a comment. We could use old pictures of movie houses, drive-in theaters, and other nostalgic pictures related to our youths.

Friday, October 25, 2013

Book Signing In Seymour


My book signing today went poorly, but I blame the cold weather for keeping people away, and the fact that I was put outside for the ordeal. I set up just before 9 AM, and it was in the mid thirties. By noon it began warming up, and people came by to talk, but no one was interested in buying books. That’s okay, I did get exposure (more ways than one), and enjoyed meeting and talking with people. Seymour has never been much for readers. I learned that when I owned and operated a used bookstore for thirty years. My sales continue to be from other sources; for instance, my Kindle books are still selling better than the print books, both in the US and overseas. Ginger only took one picture of me at the signing, and as you can see, I’m bundled up for the cold temperatures.


By afternoon it had warmed up enough for me to shed all the winter wear, just in time for the newspaper owner to come by and snap my picture, after telling me to wave at the camera. But by then it was time to pack up and close down. Ginger and I were tired and a little disappointed that books didn’t move. Sigh.

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