Old Salts

The Sunday Post-Tribume's Neighbors section is a treasure trove for Calumet Region historians. Until recently, Bob Burns had a column dealing with the origins of small communities. Now there's a "Behind the Name" feature that on August 23 concentrated on former U.S. Steel plant superintendent William Palmer Gleason. My "Gary's First Hundred Years" Centennial history of Gary is quoted several times, including my assessment that Gleason treated workers like cogs in his machine. Here is another quote: "Like his hero Napoleon, Lane has written, "he was overbearing, egotistical, and tyrannical. E.C. Rosenau called Gleason the 'Godfather of the Steel City.' His motto was 'It Can Be Done' and when he wanted something, he had little use for those who questioned his methods."

Also in Neighbors are columns by octogenarian Carrol Vertrees on the perils and pleasures of old age and by Jeff Manes on Region characters that he calls "Old Salts." On my advice he did one on Elvis Tribute Show producer and Vietnam Vet Omar Farag (a friend of mine and former softball teammate), and now he wants to do one on me when my retirement journal comes out next month. If I had more funds available, I'd do a special issue of Shavings featuring his "Old Salt" columns. The most recent deals with bean-spitting champ Willie Curtis. Manes always starts his column with quotes - this time it's from a Jim Croce song about pool shark Willie "Slim" McCoy.

Speaking of Salts: Coincidentally, my tenth grade girlfriend Mary Delp (Harwood) now uses an email address with “oldsalt” in it because she and her husband are Lake Michigan boaters. We still see each other every 5 or 10 years at Upper Dublin High School “Class of 1960” reunions and in between trade information on classmates and our respective families. A couple years ago, in Mary's Christmas card was a photo of the two of us on our way to a formal dance. I look about 10 years old but drove us in the family’s 1956 yellow and white Buick. I recall trying to pass a truck on a three-lane highway when suddenly a car was coming down the middle lane in the other direction. I’m lucky we weren’t killed. I don’t think Mary even realized what a close call it was. I'm also in touch with Bob Reller (Rel), Phil Arnold, Joe and Barbara Ricketts, Gaard Murphy (Logan), and Pam Tucker (Randolph). While my high school days were not without trauma and insecurities, I'd relive those "Happy Days" in a minute, especially knowing what I know now.