Memoirs of a Mule Rider

About the Book

Misty memories of a boy born to a poor sharecroper in the worst economic depression the world has ever known come to life with dramatic clarity in this troublihng memoir.

Trapped into surviving on the pittance realized by his family for growing the deadly health killing tobacco plant, Jeff struggles to understand the societal contradictions that control his existence throughout the twentieth century.

Imagination and dreamy fantasies fertilize larger hopes for him as he plows his father's lonely fields and wrestles with the arbitrary behavioral imnperatives that control his life.

Cruelly deprived of broad cultural stimulation, Jeff struggles to realize dreams fostered by Hollywood myths and pulp fiction.

Plentiful food--a gift of the land--adequate housing and most of all, a pervassive love and caring concern by others sharing this coimmunity of poverty and hard work, not only are sustaining but give him sweet lasting memories of those hard times.

Anger at deprivations endured by his parents fuel ambitions to escape a life growing the noxious crops of tobacco.

Nourished by the love, warmth and generosity of a large extended family living a similar life, Jeff survives to engage the larger world where he encounters the many problems that befall allhuman beings.

About the Author

My memoirs are about my personal life experiences. I grew up in the depression, lived through three major wars and served in one of them. I earned my living as a journalist for over twenty years-- reporter, editor and I once published my own weekly newspaper. I hold two college degrees. My passion in life is writing. I have a serious and lasting interest in mental health, based mainly upon personal familial familiarity with the condition. For a number of years I counseled emotionally disturbed adolescents, managed a suicide hotline during the sixties and did group work with herion addicts in the state prison. I wote this book to share my experiences with others and hopefully to illuminate some of the sociology that i feel was part of my life experiences. At the moment I live alone in a rather large old house in Raleigh, North Carolina, or rather just on the city's outskirts.I am a widower of some thirteen years. My main company is my nine year old grandaughter, my only grandchild who is with me much of the time.