Dust to Dust to Dust

About the Book

When Henry Parker and Thomas Thompson arrived in Virginia Colony aboard the sailing ship Endeavor, 1765, their altercation aboard ship was forgotten. Each went his separate way, never expecting to meet again. Each, for his own reason, was anxious to depart the dock. Thomas Thompson, with his wife Elinor and son James, headed for the dusty coal mines of West Virginia. Thomas was jumping ship to avoid a return trip to England as promised to the captain. Henry Parker was heading west to look for suitable farm land that could be claimed free, if possible. He was anxious to get settled so that he could send for his bride, with whom he had only three days before being ordered to “leave England forever”, by King George III. Henry was to have a long three year wait before seeing his bride again. The next meeting between the Parkers and Thompsons took place in a military hospital during the revolutionary war, each had been wounded at the second battle of Yorktown. Over the next many years chance meetings occurred between the two families through the dust of Texas trail drives, wars, and homesteading in Oklahoma Territory. Then in 1922 the two families were forever joined as Arthur William Parker courted and wed, Lena May Thompson. In 1935 and 1936 the Parker sharecrop farm was devastated by the depression, drought, and choking dust storms of the 1930’s. In 1937 Most members of both extended families joined the long trail of okies headed for California in search of a better life.

About the Author

Lester David Parker, the second son of a sharecrop dirt farmer was born July 18, 1926 in Greer County, Oklahoma. In 1937 the family migrated to California because of the choking dust storms and the deep depression that devastated the mid-west farmers. Parker began writing short stories (unpublished) when he was in the navy in World War II. During his career Parker wrote technical articles for trade publications, and in 2007 completed his fi rst published novel, Plight of the Albatross, about navy life of very young sailors. He has also written several published poems and is currently working on a book of poetry. After three years of navy service he married Dorothy Anderman in Chicago. Parker is the father of four, grand-father of eight and at this writing great grand-father of one and 5/9.