Arthur Walker

I grew up in a town with a population of 50, later moving to one with 500. Most of the kids went barefoot year-round. The schoolteachers, all women, were like family. As part of the curriculum, we read the news each day in the papers. It was a rich religious and moral life, close to nature. I swam in rivers and creeks, camped along the banks, hunted and fished. I worked in the hay fields, shined shoes at the barber shop, worked at the bakery, mowed yards and ran a paper route morning and evenings. Work and play ran together, with songs to accompany them. I lived close to nature, learned much of the meadows, woodlands, the birds and animals. I became an avid marksman and weapons lover, began hand-tooling metal early in life.

I was raised in an Anglo working class family rich in stories and teachings of nature and history, poetry, music, I remember hearing my great grandparents speaking of the Civil War, my grandfather of being a millwright in the 19th century. There were many stories then from those returning from World War II.

I served eight years during the Korean conflict, later attending college at four different universities before graduating with a degree in Geology and certification to teach high school math, physics, and biology. I also studied psychology and the Greek and Hebrew languages. My background from the rural South taught me to appreciate and respect the home, family, nation – its rules and laws. I raised five children of my own. I taught high school for 27 years, owned a beauty shop, a gun shop, and a small grocery store. These varied experiences and life situations give a rich background for thought, imagination, and emotional tones for life of a positive realism. I’ve written short stories, poems, collected stories from the military, relatives, and records of many sorts. I occasionally slow down to a good meal and refreshment which usually holds for three to four days. I work in a small shop hand-tooling knives for hunters and chefs, and tater peeling.