Perspicacious and erudite older guy . . .

. . . with substantial print background is available for interesting writing and design projects in print or Internet publishing. I have a separate website devoted to business.

Click on the nifty logo to see what I do for a living.

History of the Will Family: A Mass Immigration
and a Bedtime Story

Thirty-two members of the Will Family arrived in New York on October 12, 1839, on the ship Emma, out of Bremen.

The number seems remarkable. I have heard many stories about families scrimping to send one member to the U.S.A., in hope that he could pay the way for others later. As far as that goes, getting 32 members of a family to agree on a decision this big is remarkable in itself, let alone getting them to show up on time!

The only explanation we have is in the form of a children's story passed down by my great uncle, Clark Moor Wier Will (1892-1982). He heard it from his grandmother, Christina Müller Will (1823-1905). Unfortunately, it's not in English.

Click on the picture to follow this narrative. It's a photo of my great-grandfather, John William Will, and his children on August 27, 1893. My grandfather, Enoch Israel Will, is the little boy on the left.

The Dogs Here -- Elvis & Sidekick

In early August, 2002, after almost two dogless years, I adopted Elvis -- who is mostly Golden Retriever -- through a family connection. There was a divorce going on, and Elvis' fate was unclear. I accepted custody, and the big guy came home with me.

Fast forward three years. Elvis and I were walking in Cathedral Park on the morning of July 31, 2005. I remember it exactly because it's my late father's birthday. We met a scruffy and sick little terrier who looked as if he had been on his own for a while and wasn't making a success of it.

Later, people asked me how I had managed to catch him. They had seen him around the park for a week or more, but hadn't been able to get close to him. "Catch him?" I said. He walked up to me, sat down, and looked me in the eye.

I took him home, fed him, and gave him a bath. Over the next week or so, I gave him every possible opportunity to run away, but he wouldn't. After three weeks, I added up the vet bill and divided by the dog's weight, and the little guy was worth almost $90 per pound.

He had a microchip, but his owners had never registered it. It was still in a breeder's name, and the breeder was out of business. The chip told me that he's an AKC-registered Jack Russell Terrorist, his birthday is June 2, and he was seven years old when I found him. I named him Sidekick.

Both pics are links to the doggy page. Click on them to see the rest of the story.

Pictures that Were Worth Keeping

I'm a fairly serious amateur photographer, and every once in a while I get a picture that I'm happy with. Here's a link to some shots -- in no particular order -- that seemed to me to be keepers. They are almost all taken in the State of Oregon, between 2001 and the present.

Click on the rainbow pic to see the picture gallery.

Rants, Raves, an Autobiography, and a Blog

One of the benefits of paying for a website is getting to publish whatever you want. Sex, booze, drugs, country music -- I'm talking about my autobiography. You read it here first.

In the autumn of 2011, I couldn't face the idea of updating the autobiography anymore, and rather than throw it away, I decided to add a blog to it. The blog's name is "OddManOut."

The pic at right is the gateway to the personal pages.
Click . . . and come on in!

If you want to go right to OddManOut, click here.