Heartland Memories from David Lewis

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/ThePrincipalOfFighting.mp3

Theo Vitali was a wild man. Greek and Italian, his passions ran nearly as high as his blood pressure. He was a screamer, a thrower, a man so driven that, while he was the high school football coach in my hometown, we lost only two games in 6 years. In the noisy and […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/GreenBeret.mp3

I am a member of the Vietnam generation, a survivor of the draft, Johnson, Nixon, Bundy, and MacNamara’s band. I didn’t go to Vietnam. My service consisted of only one and a half days in the military – expelled from uniform because of a knee ailment common to growing young men – but I […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Blanche.mp3

In the 1950s, the southern portions of Illinois were often much farther south than a map might indicate. The pace of life in many of its parts was slower and more elemental than among the northern tribes, and a trip to that area could not only transport the traveler much farther south than he […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Wildlife.mp3

I live in the country off a less than satisfactory gravel road. Those facts make it very foolish to open any windows on the north, south, or west side of the house during warm weather, unless I develop a cavalier attitude toward dust. On an average summer day, an open living room window coupled […]

Hoofbeats in the Fog http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/OldJoe.mp3

It was damp, it was foggy, it was chilly, it was perfect. My wife and I crunched our way across the gravel parking lot of the Jock’s kitchen heading for the racetrack. It was barely dawn, and we’d just had breakfast with LaVette Drummond, a 40-year old Louisianan, who looked […]

Nice Kitty http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/Larry.mp3

I was tackled by a tiger once. I must stress that it was voluntary for both me and the tiger. I was recruited to be tiger tackled as part of a fund raising event to support some charity or other during other events at a county fair. I was coerced by individuals […]

http://heartlandmemories.com/bits/TheLionSleepsToday.mp3

Joggers and runners annoy me. Before my lovely bride, Laura, ventured off for several years occupying Afghanistan, allowing me to become a gentleman of leisure and relocate to my scenic country estate, we lived in an apartment in the city. While there, we acquired a canine – an Australian Cattle Dog, or Blue Heeler, […]