Jolly Old England

The boss sent me on a junket to England. The plane was filled with rival reporters, so when we got to Manchester I played sick. Then I met my escort, furnished by the British government, and we went to the airplane manufacturing plant. I was met with some hostility but I confirmed that the Rolls Royce engines were not to blame -- it was the weakness of the fuselage that had exploded over Rome, killing 200 people. It was this disaster that prompted Eddie Rickenbacher, the president of Eastern Airlines, to cancel a contract for planes. I rejoined the tour and suffered through some embarassment about my weak stomach. But I had my story. When I got back to Houston I called Rickenbacher and he confirmed the cancellation. Then, to my chagrin, the lawyers for the newspaper cancelled the story, saying it was unsafe. All that time wasted. Six months later, a New York newspaper published the story. All of this led to reinforced fuselages on airplanes. It made it safer to fly.

La Grange

Once upon a time there was a whorehouse at LaGrange, Texas, which served the students at Texas A&M University, which was not far away. After a football game, particularly if the Aggies had won the game, the students would load up a bus and head for LaGrange. Outside this popular brothel the Aggies would line up and wait for their turn. The slogan was "Get up, get on, get off and get gone." After the weekend rush the prostitutes would get a little rest on Mondays. The story goes that an urbanite went to the LaGrange house on a Monday and complained to the girl that she had not done enough for him. "I'm sorry Buster, but those Aggies were here this weekend," she told him, "and they damn near fucked me to death." This house, which was one of the best known secrets in Texas, was exposed to the world by Marvin Zindler, an investigative reporter in Houston. The sheriff was furious, but the governor intervened, and the house was closed, at least for a while. This led to a Broadway play, "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas." I took my wife to see it in New York. The only flaw was that the madam was portrayed as the sheriff's lover. I suspect that the sheriff loved only the payoff money.

More Casablanca

I really enjoyed being in Casablanca during World War II, in spite of the fact that I did not see Ingrid Bergman or Humphrey Bogart. You could stand on the sidewalk in downtown Casablanca and hear 18 different languages being spoken. The city was a refuge from the Nazis. However, like most soldiers, I enjoyed the sex that was available there. There were all sorts of women, natives, European refugees, black, brown, white and half breed, young and old. It was a mixtof cultures. On one occasion about 12 of us soldiers helped outselves to a bus and went on the outskirts of the city. Here was a native bordello and the women were young. Try to visualize a large room with five or six soldiers and an equal number of young women, all young and uninhibited. A few dollars would buy a lot of sex. I did not see the movie until several years after the war. I hate to say this, but the movie underestimated the terrain.

Wartime Memories

I was stationed at Victorville Air Force Base during World War II. I was not married and I had been overseas in England, North Africa, Sicily and Italy. I had good luck at this California Air Base and was assigned a building with an office, a teletype, an Associated Press machine, and a bedroom. I also was assigned a WAC secretary. Her name was Phyllis. After she had been with me for several weeks, helping me get organized, I smuggled in a bottle of whiskey and offered her a drink. One thing led to another and she ended up spending the night with me. When it came to sexual relations Phyllis just could not get enough. During the months that lasted until the end of the war Phyllis and I had sex nearly every night. Because of the war I was confined to the base and so was Phyllis. I expected to be shipped overseas into the Pacific Islands and so I decided to enjoy Phyllis while I could. When the war ended I chose to go home and Phyllis chose to stay in the military. And so we parted.

A Visit to a Prison Farm

On our way home after taking my grandmother, Kate, on a tour, I stopped off to rent a trailer and buy a load of hay. As we approached Richmond, a large dark cloud blew up. My grandmother was not afraid of anything except storms. I decided to take refuge with my friend, Byron Frierson, formerly of San Angelo, who was now assistant prison director of the rural farms in the state penitentiary system. We pulled up and explained the problem and Frierson had my trailer load of hay pulled inside a barn. We then went inside and had lunch with Byron and his wife, which had been cooked by inmates and was served by other prisoners. The food was good and the service was excellent. Later on, the storm blew itself out and I hooked my trailer up again and started home. My grandmother said, "Son I believe you must know everyone in Texas." This was not true, of course, but I did know thousands of people.

The Partlow Family

A fine oldfashioned family named Partlow lived in Liberty, Texas. They kept milk cows and chickens laying eggs and although they lived in the city limits they were exempt from regulation because they had been there before annexation. At noon they served anywhere from 12 to 24 people for lunch. Mr. Partlow was the official surveyor for the county. I met his son, Sam, on the Salt Grass Trail. I was in Liberty with my grandmother, Katie Mims, and she refused to eat at the local cafe. And so I went over and invited us to join the Partlows for lunch. They graciously accepted us, and we joined more than 20 other people. The meal was properly blessed and was up to my grandmother's standard.

Personal Comment

I skipped a day and the reason was that I had a tooth pulled. Like nearly everyone else I hate dentists. However, the tooth had to come out and so I went ahead. The visit to the dentist office was a study in human nature. There were young people and old people, there were men and there were women, there were married couples and in some of the married cases there were wives accompanying their husbands, and vice versa. Needless to say I am glad this is over.