I “met” Gary Knox through something I’d written. That led to his reading Leora’s Letters, which lit a fire under this retired math teacher, widower and wood-carving hobbyist.
He pretty much disappeared from Facebook the entire month of January. When he surfaced again, he’d written, edited, read aloud, and had printed up more than 70 pages of memoirs!
Noticing the dialogue in Leora’s Letters, he also included some in his stories. Last week he messaged a poem, asking my opinion. Well, lump in throat, it’s just dear. February 15 is the anniversary of his first date with Verdeen in 1958, so today is the perfect day to publish his first poem.
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Gary and Verdeen Knox
50th Wedding Anniversary, 2011
How delightful that Gary was inspired by Leora’s Letters to work on his memoirs! I love his sweet poem to his wife. Now, the question is, did he have a necking knob on his steering wheel?
You ask him! I sent him a book of Greg Seeley’s poems about three generations on the same Iowa farmland over 125 years. It just might trigger more!
😀
My dad called spinners “knuckle busters”, too.
I hadn’t heard that one!
It was his way of warning me about being careless using the one on our old Farmall Regular.
How lovely! Fun to be able to inspire someone to write their memoirs.
And so quickly! His kids and grandkids are just going to treasure it!
Liz…Necking knobs…made me chuckle. We always called those knobs “Spinners”. We had one on our old Farmall tractor. I had no car of my own and never could talk my dad into putting a spinner on our car. Even when our cars had a console between us my wife would put her hand on it and we would hold hands. Even after she died, I still often drive with my left on the steering wheel and my right on the console.
Lovely! That is such a sweet poem! Just a few lines, but it says it all…wonderful love story!
Here’s hoping he’ll do more!
[…] 1950s Date by Gary Knox on Joy Neal Kidney […]
Two knobs helped the right arm some. Moving the shift lever to the left side of the steering wheel on a 48 Chev. also helped free the right arm. Shifting was backwards, but you got used to it.
Having had my “main” shoulder replaces with a “reverse,” I can believe it. I learned to do most things left handed, but just not handwriting. Thanks for your feedback.
Being restricted to zero knobs only enabled me to put my arm around her on straight-a-ways and it was an art to maneuver my right arm to the steering wheel when needed without mussing up her hair and still look cool.
Gary, you are a delight!