Over the past 2 to 3 months, I have had some people with whom I grew up and some former students ask me some questions about my short stories. Some of you know that I write and research when I am trying to understand something; when I am troubled about something; or when I am trying to decide or re-evaluate my own opinion on issues. Since retiring, I have been thinking a lot about who I am as a person and how I became that person. We are all products of key, perspective-changing events or people in our past who have shaped or played a role in whom we have become. We often don’t recognize these perspective-changing events or particular people until later in life. These short stories represent events, places, and people in my life who have shaped my thinking processes, my assumptions, my framework for understanding people and the world, my values, my likes and dislikes, my hopes, my dreams, and my choices. I have changed the names of most of the actual people in these stories with the exception of my wife. The people in the stories are often composites of those in my past. All of the stories are based to a greater or lesser extent on actual events and places or combinations of events and places frrom my past, my memory. The only exception to that is the short story The Reunion which I wrote prior to attending my 50th high school reunion. The stories are not intended to be an actual history. Hopefully, they are written in a way to make you think about your own past and how it has shaped who you are today. The stories are a work in progress and will always be. For those of you who read them…thank you so very much. And yes, I have plans for many more stories. As an FYI, here’s the time frame for which the current list of my short stories are based:
My First Grade Teacher - fall 1960
The Bus Ride – December 1961
The Sugar Cube – spring 1963
The Ed Sullivan Show – February 9, 1964
The Pool – July 1964
The Railroad – November 1964
The Christmas Dinner – Christmas 1964
Lone Ranger Rock – spring 1966
The Little League Field – summer 1966
The Campout – August 1969
The Fallout Shelter – early summer 1970
The Drive Inn Theatre – early summer 1970
The Drug Store – spring 1971
The Championship Game – November 1971
The Cabaret Club – January 1, 1972
Creative Writing Class - Spring 1972
The Dorm Room – June 1974
The Interview – April 1978
The Buffington Street Mansion – December 1979
The Ride Home – early summer 1981
The Brick Factory – early summer 1981
The Classroom - late August 1981
The Class – fall 1982
The Lake House – Thanksgiving 1984
The Restaurant – December 31, 1984
The Apartment – summer 1985
The Furniture Store - summer 1986
The Hotel - summer 1993
The Hostel - summer 1995
The Hospital Room – July 25, 1999
Living with Nancy - December 2014
The Luncheon – December 2018
Granny’s House – April 2021
The Reunion – summer 2022
The Cul de Sac - November 2023
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