TRAVIS McGEE

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What a spectacular morning! Everything perfect! No breeze, water still, no clouds, blue sky, sun reflecting brightly on the MTV house across the water. As I am accustomed to saying, it is a God is in His Heaven day and all is right with the world. Unfortunately, only my world in tiny Key West.

I think I am well read. More precisely, I thought I was well read.

A couple of months ago, Travis McGee came up as well as the author John D. MacDonald. I did not know who either was. My education had been neglected. I soon learned from the voluminous e mails that came in who Travis McGee was. A popular character  in a series of Travis McGee novels written by John D. MacDonald.

In this weekend’s mail, I received a hardbound copy of one of the Travis McGee books. The Deep Blue Glory. I will start reading it today.

My benefactors are Dan and Karen from the Pittsburg area. Snowboards. I mentioned them around Fantasy Fest time. They chastised me a bit re Travis McGee. They must have mentioned it to their daughter. She brought the book down when she visited Key West. For whatever reason, it never made it into my hands.

Be prepared for some Travis McGee comments.

My only time out of the house yesterday was to visit the Chalk Festival next to the Coast Guard vessel Ingham. I thought I was a good chalker when young. No way compared to what I saw yesterday. Outstanding work! Each and every drawing. The festival a big deal. Some artists traveled from Europe to participate.

I do not know if you picked up on it. I have not been going out as much lately. The reason is I am on a diet. I have been on so many. I start and rarely finish. I did not want to embarrass myself again.

I have just concluded four weeks of dieting. Fifteen pounds! Wowie!

Lisa and the grandchildren dropped off the turkey yesterday. It sits in my extra refrigerator in the garage till wednesday evening. Robert and Ally were excited. Their emotions are catching.

Syracuse played Iowa in the consolation basketball game in Madison Square Garden friday. Syracuse won 66 or 68 to 63. I did not watch. I forgot.

Syracuse plays Loyola tomorrow night. I will watch around my blog talk radio show.

I believe tomorrow night’s blog talk radio show will be unusually good. The topics. I am going to do a dissertation on beheading. I will compare the Saudi Arabia method to that used by ISIS and the reason for each. Informative, but gruesome.

Plus, the story of a 12 year old Cleveland black boy. He was playing with a pistol bebe gun in a children’s playground. Some one called 911 and reported it. However did say he thought the gun was fake. The police arrived. A rookie police officer shot the boy dead.

You can find me at 9 tomorrow evening on the internet with the blog talk radio show. www.blogtalkradio.com/key-west-lou.

On this day in history in 1963, John Kennedy’s killer Lee Harvey Oswald was shot to death by Jack Ruby. I saw it live at the time on television.

The police were transporting Oswald somewhere else. They were walking him out of an underground area to the sidewalk. The tunnelway was crowded with all sort of spectators. I recall thinking at the time how stupid! Someone is going to kill Oswald. Someone did. Ruby. He walked right up to Oswald and shot him.

I mention particularly this episode in history because I find it similar to Ferguson. Stupid police work!

Enjoy your day!

 

JOHN D. MACDONALD

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Don’s Place is off the beaten track. It is considered a locals place. Where one sits quietly and chats with a person on an adjoining stool. Nothing fancy about the bar. A bit on the run down.

The whole world stops into Don’s Place. Everyone. Whether local or a visitor, all with unique backgrounds and stories to tell. Don’s personality contributes to the atmosphere. People drop in to meet the man.

I am frequently excited by those I meet. Such personalities, such diverse backgrounds.

Last night was one of those occasions.

I stopped for a drink. Don and I were chatting. A couple sat at the bar next to me. Immediately next to me. I thought it strange. There were many empty stools. They could have sat elsewhere and enjoyed some privacy.

We talked. They were Karen and Dan from Pittsburgh. Karen and Dan immediately shared with me that they had been reading my blog every day for three years. And that they had read The World Upside Down. That was it! I immediately fell in love with them. It excites me when I run into people who read me. It never fails. I appreciate that people take the time to be interested in what I have to say.

Karen and Dan have been here three months. Renting somewhere near Don’s Place. In  Key West till Thanksgiving. Dan is a retired medical technologist. Karen a Shaklee distributor. I sense they will someday move to Key West permanently.

They asked if I knew or was aware of John MacDonald. John D. MacDonald to be precise. He was from Utica. I never heard of him. They thought it strange. They mentioned Savage Arms. I knew of Savage Arms, but again not MacDonald. They mentioned MacDonald was a famous author. Again, I embarrassingly said I had no knowledge of him. I thought perhaps they had the wrong city. It was not Utica.

They mentioned Travis McGee. Who was Travis McGee?

When I returned home, I hit the internet. There was a John D. MacDonald, he was from Utica and he was a famous author. Primarily wrote mysteries. One of his claims to fame was The Executioners. You and I know the book as Cape Fear. Two movies were made. Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in 1962 and Robert DeNero and Nick Nolte in 1991.

Let me briefly share with you MacDonald’s story. My Utica friends especially, take note.

MacDonald’s time on earth was 1916-1986. He was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania. His family moved to Utica when he was 10. His father was Treasurer of the Savage Arms branch in Utica. The family summered at Piseco Lake.

MacDonald graduated from Utica Free academy. Eventually got a degree from Syracuse University and a Masters from Harvard.

He was not yet a writer.

He joined the US Army in 1940. Before the war. Stationed in the Burma-China-India area. He was involved with the OSS. Spy stuff. He went in a lieutenant and came out a lieutenant colonel.

While stationed in Asia, he decided he wanted to write. After discharge, he, his wife and 7 year old son settled in Utica. He gave himself one year to become a successful author. The family lived on State Street. In a second floor apartment of a large house. Money was tough. They were living on his Army severance pay.

State Street had a mill at one end and the new Utica College at the other. The homes  in between were then considered middle class. Factory workers primarily. He worked extremely hard in the State Street apartment for four months. Seven days a week. Turned out 800,000 words. Sold only one story. To a pulp magazine for $40. He lost 20 pounds in the process. No air conditioning back then. Between the heat and his work ethic, it is not surprising he dropped the 20 pounds.

He then moved to Clinton, NY. Ten miles outside Utica. Home of Hamilton College. He thought associating with academia would help his writing efforts. It did not. All it did was get him involved in deciding which tea party to attend and listening to college gossip regarding who was sleeping with who.

He then moved to Cuernavaca, Mexico. He had read it was a good place for a writer to work. It was not, at least for him.

He finally discovered Florida. Settled in Sarasota and then Siesta Key. Here he blossomed. Spent his summers at Piseco Lake.

MacDonald captured the sense of Florida at the time. The sense of promise, the breath taking beauty, the languid sleaze, the raciness. The short stories came tumbling out. Followed by novels. Paperbacks. Then hardbacks. He was a success! He wrote 500 short stories and 78 novels during the span of his career. His books sold 75 million copies world wide.

Even today, almost 30 years after his death, his books continue to sell. So much so that Random House is planning to publish all his books again in paperback and e-mail.

How did I miss MacDonald? I lived and worked in Utica more than 70 years. I am sure even my friends are unaware of him. My former community never made mention of him. Even stranger since MacDonald’s contemporary Walter Edmonds of Drums Along The Mohawk fame lived in the Utica area for many years and was part of our lives.

The best thing that happened to me yesterday was meeting Karen and Dan. I am excited they introduced me to John D. MacDonald.

Enjoy your day!