This is sort of a postscript to the encyclopedia series of articles. One of the anecdotes that I wanted to include in that series but couldn’t quite work it in concerns a guy with tattoos on the middle joints of his fingers. And all I really remember clearly about it is the tattoos. I think … Continue reading The Tattooed Hands

This is the final installment of the series about the days when I was traveling in encyclopedias. The first post can be found here. I did manage to sell one set of encyclopedias, but oddly I have no memory of making the sale. I do, however, remember when Lester gave me the check. He made … Continue reading Quitting the Trade

This is the fourth installment of the series about the time I was traveling in encyclopedias that began here. I had finally made a sale, but when Dick, my team leader, looked at the sales agreement, he turned to me and said, “This isn’t valid. The buyers aren’t 21.”  So the two of us went … Continue reading If It Wasn’t For Bad Luck I’d Have No Luck At All

This is the third installment of the series about the days when I was traveling in encyclopedias; it began here. I’ve previously mentioned that coming from a small town in Pennsylvania, I didn’t get to know many folks of the Black persuasion. Even after two years at Penn State, that hadn’t changed. Certainly there were … Continue reading Lloyd

This is the second installment of the series about the time I was traveling in encyclopedias that began here. My memory of the summer of ’69 is a bit fuzzy after all these years, of course, but here is what I remember of a typical day when I went to work for P.F. Collier. Alas, … Continue reading No Intrinsic Value

During the summer break from Penn State in 1969 I was having a problem finding a job. In 1967 I had worked at the Lebanon VA Hospital and the previous summer at my uncle Allen’s drug store, but neither of those options was available that year, and I couldn’t seem to find anything suitable. Well, … Continue reading Please Observe Me If You WIll, I’m Professor Harold Hill