Father's Hat

About the Book

Father's Hat is the true story of a man who lived from 1889-1983, and who remains an inspiration to his descendants today. Why read his story? Because when very young, he had assumed extra responsibilities because he had no father. When older, he learned to enjoy work. He fell in love with a German-American lady in a time of anti-German hysteria. He proved himself a brave soldier without yielding an iconoclastic sense of his individuality. He and his wife raised a family that guaranteed his continuity. He demonstrated again and again that the only way to measure a person was to measure that person, and only that person. He demonstrated how to grow old with satisfaction and joy. He understood the values of truth and loyalty. Not a great man, he was a good man. When a person has lived a long, joyous, productive life, there is reason to care because there is reason to honor with imitation.

About the Author

Born in 1931 in western New York State, Fred Bartle was raised in the Delaware Valley of southeastern New York. After teaching history and government, he retired in 1986. The memoir he has compiled about his father is intended to introduce a generation past to a generation future.