James Lewis

About the Book

The completion of this book took a great many years out of my life to accomplish. It has been a source of healing, discovery and acknowledgment to the people and family I have written about. To their memory I hope they are pleased. As a boy in Indiana I would often sit on our porch of our home and daydream of hero’s and events as most boys do, but my childhood was quite lonely. My mother was busy in the family store; all my sisters were older, and they were gone for the most part, so all I had for my company was my little dog, Peewee, and a lot of time to ourselves. When I was about eight years old or so, I joined the traffic boys at school. They were in charge of seeing students across intersections to and from school. I was assigned street corners to oversee. It was my first introduction to responsibility, and I loved it. I left with the rank of lieutenant and some needed command experience. In California, in high school I had auto shop and public speaking and was a member of the varsity gymnastic team. I graduated in February of 1957. The next forty-six years took me from singlehood to marriage and three children, through three divorces, to the completion of this book. Along the way I lost two sisters, my mother, and my stepfather. It seems that life has many downsides and we must work very hard to make our good times as best as they can be.

About the Author

I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana, January 14, 1939 to James and Corine Lewis. I had 3 older sisters. My mother was born in Mobil, Alabama, my father in Pensecola, Florida. My father died when I was 3 yrs. old, and my mother owned and operated a neighborhood grocery store until we moved to California in 1951. I graduated from Fremont High School in 1957. I was married to Evangeline Bowdan in 1959 and had 3 children, James Gregory, Susan Lynell and Andrea Denise. My occupation was with McDonnell Douglas Aircraft and Long Beach Unified School District. My goal was to publish my writings and I have accomplished that. I hope you enjoy the journey and relate it to yours. James Lewis