Socks (Paperback or Softback)

Socks is a highly independent person who has always avoided getting involved with others or making commitments because he didn't want any entanglements that might jeopardize his independence . However, several people, including two children, in a small community where he went to pursue his trade taught him to appreciate the companionship and support of others. One by one they penetrated his crust and found his heart. While this is happening you are introduced to several unique and interesting characters who are not just people but individuals with their own unique personalities and each with a distinct form of human nature. Knowing how to live alone and be self-sufficient saves him more than once but the companionship and support of others is what makes his life worthwhile and are his ultimate salvation. Throughout the pages of this book you will meet many true-to-life people. Some you will despise and some of them will warm your heart but all of them will seem realistic and believable.

     Jim has lived during the times that he writes about. He has been married 61 years and has a daughter and a son. He spent his life in the use, care and repair of things mechanical, electrical and electronic. During two years in the U.S. Army he worked on guided missile guidance systems. Since retiring he has taken up woodworking as a hobby and builds some unique keepsake boxes. After writing a family history he was told that he should pursue writing and decided to try a novel. This is his first effort.
     Jim grew up in rural Montana during the days of what is commonly called the great depression. His earliest memories come from the time when horses were the primary source of mobile power for such things as farming and personal transportation. In his youth he drove teams in the hayfields and rode horseback many times but he eagerly converted to motor powered vehicles and immediately began learning how they worked and how to repair them. Throughout the rest of his life he was constantly learning what made things tick and how to repair them. He progressed from driving horses as a child to working with guided missiles in the army. While working for I. B. M., he learned to maintain and repair the latest in electronic equipment. Today he uses a personal computer for his writing and for communicating with publishers but he declares that the computers are much too complicated and are far overdue for simplification.
     Jim says he is not a writer, he is a story teller. He says that writers do clever things with words but all he does is tell a story. Being 82 years old gives him a lot of background knowledge to use in telling his stories and creating his characters. He does not use people he has known as characters in his stories but does use human nature that he has observed over the years to create realistic fictitious characters. He did not use any of his personal experiences in this novel but, again, drew on his personal knowledge to create many of the events.