Introduction:

Norman McLean, author of the novella ‘A River Runs Through It‘ (better known for the celebrated 1992 film version), did not publish that memoir-based work until he was in his seventies. Presumably, it took the wisdom of that age for him to strike the right tone in writing about difficult memories.

I was in my mid-fifties when I first attempted to write a memoir about my late father. At that time, I had time off work for the healing of a broken bone.  During the recovery, I collated notes taken over many years and sketched out a rough plan. But I could not find the right tone.  To borrow a Zen analogy–– I failed to ride the bull home–– let alone transcend it…  

Nearly seventeen years later, I have revisited the rough notes of that abandoned project. The version I am presenting here is less ambitious than that of my earlier design. Even at seventy-one, I struggle with getting the right tone. Yet the writing has illuminated a few dark corners–– an incidental effect. The primary aim is simply to overcome the taunting of unfinished work…

 Identifiable names (notably, those of pet dogs) have been changed or alphabetized. Otherwise, like all my postings, this memoir is non-fiction. It is as true as any account based on contemporaneous notes and dark memories can possibly be.

-2023, February

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Complete PDF text (120 pp.)

1. War Stories
2. Betrayal
3. Fang and Claw
4. Husband and Wife
5. Father and Son
6. No Turn of the Worm
7. The Last Post
8. Abide with Me
9. Wartime letters
10. A Little Unravelling

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