Donald J Richardson

Bedtime was special when my children were very young. We enjoyed reading aloud and telling stories to each other. Such times were special, to be savored and treasured; out of those times came The Davey Family Stories. Each is an extension of our family at the time, and each embodies a modicum of truth--the way it was and the way we wanted it to remain. This wish is still true. As with all fiction, this book is a roman a clef, life remembered but couched as fiction. That doesn't make it any less true; in fact, it may serve to emphasize the truth of being, of existing, of our petty attempts to make a mark on time, an enduring impression which may outlast our lives and memories. At any rate such can I hope.

Bedtime was special when my children were very young. We enjoyed reading aloud and telling stories to each other. Such times were special, to be savored and treasured; out of those times came The Davey Family Stories. Each is an extension of our family at the time, and each embodies a modicum of truth--the way it was and the way we wanted it to remain. This wish is still true. As with all fiction, this book is a roman a clef, life remembered but couched as fiction. That doesn't make it any less true; in fact, it may serve to emphasize the truth of being, of existing, of our petty attempts to make a mark on time, an enduring impression which may outlast our lives and memories. At any rate such can I hope.

There are numerous townsites in western Kansas where people tried to build a settlement. They trusted in the land, in themselves, in their children, and in the future. One of the sites was Cordia.

There are numerous townsites in western Kansas where people tried to build a settlement. They trusted in the land, in themselves, in their children, and in the future. One of the sites was Cordia.

When I was a boy in Missouri, I could have visited President Truman as Independence was only a few dozen miles from Utica. Yet the thought never occurred to me. Thus, the tribute is based on what might have been. I have few positive memories of Initiation, however.