Book Progress — 3

My grand scheme of printing the many e-mails I received from Bill Strouse isn’t working. I thought could forward them to myself at my employer and print them because my museum’s office computer is out of ink and I have no bucks to buy more. (Still no rent money since November from upstairs deletable expletive.) So I’ve decided to find things I can do without money to BUILD THIS BOOK! I tried reading photo captions and articles into my digital recorder, but that is very tedious work, even with me uploading the voice files to the computer and then using the sound program like a tape recording dictation machine. So I’ve decided to organize a real book production here.

Following a small introduction, it will have
Chapter 1 – Youth
Chapter 2 – Early Army
Chapter 3 – Overseas flying
Chapter 4 – Death & Burials
Chapter 5 – Legacy – Walker Airstrip, his Springfield today, Connie and her life
Chapter 6 – Liaison flying, planes he flew
Chapter 7 – Walker’s two surviving logbook transcripts.

The only known address for his family — 614 1/2 S. Douglas — suggests to me that if “T” attended Lawrence Elementary School, his family almost CERTAINLY lived at an earlier address and later moved to Douglas which is easy walking to his high school. I will have to spend some time looking through old Springfield City Directories to trace his family from 1931 — the year he graduated high school  — backward to a year when his Dad was not listed at the Douglas address.
I have NO INFORMATION about JTW’s youth or his father’s time on the Springfield Fire Department (SFD). As time permits, I WILL VISIT and CONSULT with the SFD, Lawrence Elementary School and Springfield High to see if there’s any info. Even a picture or two from that 20s & 30s era would be great.

I’m also going to contact the local news weekly Illinois Times to see if they will publish a short article about my search for anyone who remembers “T” and his family.

Tonight I’ve worked on this project since 5:25, and now it’s 9:00; time for me to go home and eat dinner and go to bed. I WANT to be back here in eight hours if my luck is good; certainly in 10 hours.

Look for another Book Report no later than Friday.

Your suggestions and comments are welcome.