Nelly Murariu @PixBeeDesign designed the cover of Leora’s Dexter Stories, as well as the other Leora books. She also designed the interior and formatted the ebook.
Nelly designed the cover around a photo Leora Wilson took in 1934 to send to her older sons Delbert and Donald Wilson, who had been in the Navy since February of that year. You might remember a photo of them standing next to a Model T Ford truck. Their father Clabe took off the top of the truck that summer.
Clabe is in the driver’s seat in this one, with sons Dale and Danny standing alongside holding their shotguns. Junior is lounging on the hood, focusing on their pet squirrel Rusty.
A closer look at Junior’s shoes reminded me that Clabe owned a set of tools to repair shoes. He bought “whang leather” to make shoestrings for the family.
The stories of the boys joining the Navy, the truck becoming a roadster, and Rusty the pet squirrel are all in the book about the Wilson family as they survived the Great Depression, living “on the dole” and WPA jobs. Clabe sold the roadster that fall. They didn’t have another automobile until 1939!
John Busbee not only edited Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression, he also wrote the engaging foreword for it.
Robin Grunder shepherded this book (as well as three other “Leora books”) through KDP publication with her own company, Legacy Press Books.
I’m so thankful that Grandma Leora took this winsome photo, and that Nelly created such a delightful cover from it. I wonder what Grandma would say about the old photo she took that day becoming part of the cover of a book about her very own family.
I’ve been over to Robin’s site and it’s very interesting. I can see why you went to Legacy Press.
I hired Robin as a coauthor on Leora’s Letters. She didn’t have a company yet, but formed it as she worked on the Depression Era book. She asked me if it was okay to include her logo on it! She’s delightful to work with. I still haven’t met her!
I think I need the word “winsome” in my life – so much more. Thank you, Joy…for prompting a big smile this morning. 🥰
Bless you, dear Vicki!
Right back to you, dear Joy! 🥰
The casualness of this cover picture is engaging. If anyone sat on the hoods of modern vehicles, they’d probably cause indentations. It sounds like Nelly, John, and Robin each deserve a big pat on the back-as does the author! 🙂
You are dear, Nancy. Thank you.
How wonderful that you can take precious memories and turn them into something that we can all enjoy!
I’m still amazed and humbled at all of this, but looking back, I was “in training” for it for decades. Thank you, Annette.
I know you and I both look at this photo, and can’t help but think what happened in the near future. Three of our uncles and Grandpa Wilson all died in a short span of years in the early 1940’s. So sad and sobering!
Yes, Bob, this one is very bittersweet. I’m thankful the stories and photos and letters revealed their personalities during those years, but it also makes their losses even more poignant.
So many interesting tid-bits in that photo!
There sure are!
I love that cover!
Thanks, Andrew!
Reading about the Great Depression makes me thankful for my life. I’ve had some times that were economic downturns, but never been “On the dole”. That’s a great cover, created from a the very fine photograph your grandmother took.
Our daughter-in-law didn’t understand being ashamed of being on welfare. The best example I know about is the film “Cinderella Man,” about a boxer on the dole and how he felt about it. Thank you, Tim, for your comment.
This is one of my favorite Wilson family photos.
Oh, Liz, for me as well!
I think it’s a wonderful cover, Joy, and it’s so special that you took the time to compile the history of Leora and Clabe so others can appreciate their story. 🩷
Thank you, Lauren. These were the stories I didn’t want to hear as a kid because they usual came with a lesson about appreciating what we had and not wasting anything. But the stories certainly brought the history of that era to life for me, along with how each of them made a life despite their deprivations.
You’re welcome, Joy, and I think as adults, we appreciate these stories more. I hope to post your review next week sometime. I’m so behind on reviews, but it’s coming. 🌷
Bless you, dear!
❤️❤️
I love the cover, Joy! I just downloaded the book onto my Kindle and look forward to reading it. How wonderful that you wrote those stories! <3
Bless you, Miriam!
This is wonderful! I wonder indeed what Grandma Leora would think. Imagine, we are using computers now… A lovely photo.
She’d be amazed, wouldn’t she? Thank you for your note.