“If the blackberry patch brings back memories, you will like this book.”
—Small Farm Today
“We need books like this to remind us and succeeding generations that at one time the small, independent operator represented an essential ingredient for our country’s successes.”
—Reviewer’s Consortium
Long before cell phones and computers, home telephones were designated by a sequence of rings. To reach the late Phillip W. Steele’s grandparents on Gilliland farm, the caller would have to ring two longs and a short on a wooden box on the wall. Inspired by memories of his grandfather, Joe, telling tales on the front porch, Steele collected elements of vanishing rural life.
These dissolving cultural pieces of rural life include diverse topics, from the lost art of stone carving to the history of the outhouse and chamber pot. Steele did not limit this work to only the tangible aspects of life. Legends on the creation of certain trees are also included, not to mention the important superstitious information on when is the best time to cut fingernails for health or wealth.
Steele was staunch in capturing every detail of this bygone time. There are multiple pictures on the topics described. Being introduced to images from sorghum mills to a picture of a granddaddy spider, the reader will understand the sights being discussed within the text.
About the Author
A native of northwest Arkansas, Phillip W. Steele attended Kemper Military Academy in Columbia, Missouri, the University of California at Los Angeles, and the University of Arkansas. He was involved in a number of organizations: the Western Writers of America, the Jesse James Historical Society, the Friends of the James Farm and Museum, the National Outlaw and Lawman History Association, the Ozarks Writers League, and the Ozarks Arts and Crafts Fair. He also served on the board of directors for the Arkansas History Commission, which was appointed by the governor of Arkansas. Previous Pelican tiles written by Phillip Steele are The Family Story of Bonnie and Clyde, Jesse and Frank James: The Family History, The Last Cherokee Warriors, The Many Faces of Jesse James, Outlaws and Gunfighters of the Old West, Ozark Tales and Superstitions, and Starr Tracks: Belle and Pearl Starr. Phillip W. Steele passed away on November 8, 2007.
TWO LONGS AND A SHORT
Written and illustrated by Phillip W. Steele
BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Personal Memoirs
112 pp. 8 1/2 x 11
81 b/w illus. 82 b/w photos
ISBN: 9781589802018 pb