Howard Persky

was a soldier, which made a difference in my soft mind. He wore a khaki jacket with his military patches before the Vietnam War even really got started. Came from a family of drinkers and cynics, worldfulness, exactly what I feared and needed in 1961. Pretended to be and English gentleman. When he bought gas he called it motor fuel and he knew all about beer and whisky which we drank with Mary at the night-soaked Sligo Golf Course after an evening of hopping the bars on Georgia Avenue. Mary was my long days journey. She let me speak and pretended to want me. I was almost hearty enough.