It Started With My Father

7-10-23

It might be interesting to know that I'm not the only writer in the family.

My brother, Tim, has successfully published three business books.  My sister's granddaughter, Kayla, has written at least one book (unpublished) and our granddaughter, Penny, who is still in grade school, is writing and illustrating a book.  It remains a work in process.

Yet, I like to think that our interest in writing stems from my father.

I provided a photo taken in 1954.  That's me on the right checking out his newly grown beard. 

While in his fifties, he scraped together enough money to purchase a portable Smith Corona typewriter.  I can remember watching in fascination as the letter keys struck the paper and formed words.  He went on to devote decades, writing two manuscripts -- one a memoir of his war years and another an historical fiction of his years in World War II.

My brother, Tim, self-published his memoir: My War Years, under my dad's name, Francis Faley. 

His book of fiction was presented to a literary agent in the 1970s, but was rejected along with ways of improving the story.  Needless to say, my father lost heart and never worked on the manuscript after that.  One day, I'll work on his manuscript and resubmit it.  A posthumous honor for him.

Although my father has passed on, I can't thank him enough for encouraging those in his family to freely express themselves on paper.