My 91 Trips Around the Sun (Paperback)

This book is a historical memoir, written by Richmond Roe Fowler, for his friends and family. Roe was born June 24, 1906, in Marion, Illinois, and died on January 7, 1998, in Fresno, California. Roe's manuscript is a travelogue of his life and memories. The reader will find that Roe can turn a normal story into a riotously funny one as he relates early episodes of his childhood. In 1924, with his Illini-Guide in hand, Roe enrolled in the University of Illinois. In fourteen chapters, Roe gives a fascinating history of college matriculation and football. It is here that he receives his journalistic skill as a sports writer for the Daily-Illini and graduates to the Chicago Tribune from 1928-1935 where he was the assistant managing editor of seven Myers newspapers, plus a copy writer in two Michigan Avenue advertising agencies. Roe talks about the Great Depression, giving details of his sixteen hour days, five days a week, schedule. Roe courted his wife during this time and after six weeks of marriage, endured her tragic death in 1931. The last half of Roe's handwritten manuscript was about his World War II service. There was death, personal illness and military punishment that were not always on the battle-field. These events touched him deeply but, Roe turned his sadness into a war story that is both engaging and humorous. Roe served 4 1/2 years in WWII in the Eighth and Ninth Air Forces, going from private to major, on General Eisenhower's G-5 Staff in Versailles and Frankfurt-am-Main after V-E Day. What happened to Roe after WWII? A prologue was compiled and edited by Marjorie M. Allen, BRC Printing owner, to partially answer this question. Research revealed there were several versions of Roe. After the war, he moved to California, settling at first in Los Angeles. While there, he wrote and composed for the movie industry. He also wrote technical materials for corporate clients in aerospace, electronics and computers. Without a wife or children, he moved to Fresno to be closer to his nephew's family. In 1971, Roe retired from The Fresno Bee as a news editor. At the age of 65, Roe joined Congressman Sisk's staff in their Fresno office. He worked there for eight years and when Sisk retired in 1979, so did Roe. Not one to be idle, Roe volunteered to work for the local U.S. Probation office in their Senior Volunteer program. Before Roe died, he commissioned BRC Printing to complete and publish his memoir, My 91 Trips around the Sun from his hand-written notes and private papers. Roe was an established poet and a few short poems are sprinkled throughout his memoir. It was my privilege to have known Roe during the seventeen years I owned and operated BRC Printing in downtown Fresno. I'm a native Californian, born in Coalinga in 1942, the oldest of four siblings. I married Dave Allen in 1965 and we have two children and three grandchildren. Life experiences over a span of forty years include working as a library assistant; working for Turlock City Hall; traveling to Germany to join my husband and where I worked for the European Exchange System at the Giessen Army Depot; Stanislaus State College; Modesto law office; Modesto Bee; owner and manager of BRC Printing in Fresno for seventeen years; Western Camps, Inc; MACC Records Management; 2000 Census; retired 2004 from State Center Community College District in Fresno. As a retired freelance writer, I researched and wrote the history of three Clovis schools for their 50 Unified Years and, for my high school 50th reunion; I did an anniversary memory book. Four of my veteran stories were selected for Volume II of Stories of Service by Janice Stevens. For two years, I wrote grants for Assistance League of Fresno for their philanthropic projects. I have also published several memoir articles. Please contact allen0128@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in nostalgia or history stories, of a way of life, long forgotte