The 8-Toed Octogenarian

About the Book

Every life has a story. Frank Morris, age 86, has many facets to his story, and reveals them with great candor and good humor.

As a child of the depression, his world was the tight Olney section of Philadelphia. But that changed suddenly on December 7, 1941, and Frank soon found himself 15,000 miles away in the jungles of northern Burma. His army unit was attached to the Chinese infantry. Here, he frequently served as bodyguard to General “Vinegar Joe” Stilwell, the U.S. theater Commander. In mid-March ‘44, a foxhole accident triggered a violent respiratory reaction and Frank lingered in a field hospital until he could be evacuated under oxygen. His weight fell to 98 pounds. He was returned to the states and given an honorable discharge. While working to regain his health and strength, Frank entered Penn’s Wharton School under the G.I. Bill. He graduated in March ‘48 and three months later married Helen O’Neill, a former “Queen of Olney”. Then 25, a veteran, a college grad and a recently married man, Frank asked himself, “Where do I….we….go from here?” The 8-TOED OCTOGENARIAN tells the rest of the story. And it’s a good one.

About the Author

As a former advertising man and publicist, Frank Morris is no novice in writing. His “8-Toed Octogenarian” tells Frank’s own story from the age of five through eight decades as an average guy of the so-called Greatest Generation. Frank lives in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania with his wife of 61 years, Dr. Helen O’Neill Morris, former Director of the Social Work program at Temple University’s Capitol Campus in Harrisburg, Pa. Both have retired to “do our own thing” and to enjoy the grand and great grandchildren.