My father “Big Jim” was a large man in every sense of the word, and he told big fat lies. He was drafted toward the end of WWII but Japan surrendered the day before he was to report for duty. He told us they gave up because they heard Big Jim was coming. He couldn’t swim but took us to the beach. He’d go in the water and just sink. He said that was how Russians swim and the technique was called “snorkel.” 

         I began my own story-telling before anyone could read my penmanshi...


Continue reading ...