Stories of a Boy from Gobblers Knob

About the Book

A few years ago I was visiting with my sister in law, Marian Brower, at the homestead. During the course of our conversation, Marian stopped me and said, “Preston, you have to get this down on paper or it will go to the grave with you.”  I realized at the time that there was a whole library of interesting anecdotes that needed to be recorded.

This book is an anecdotal autobiography, using my life as a timeline to organize the very many adventures and misadventures I have experienced.  It is the first of a planned trilogy and covers the first thirty years of my life.  It is partly historical, dealing with rural living during the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s.  My life began in the 1920s when there were virtually no indoor facilities, the Great Depression hardships, WW2and its experiences and effects, Life at Cornell University, and finally, my marriage. A few photos depicting the times are included, as well.  I had really wanted to write, but the opportunity didn’t present itself until the computer age arrived.  Since I was already in my late 70s, I figured I had better get hopping.  At this point, I knew nothing of computers and had necessarily dropped typing in high school. Writing a book in longhand did not seem particularly appealing. The computer changed everything and this first book is the result of the change.  

About the Author

Preston was born and spent his childhood in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains on a dirt poor, small and stony farm. The rural life in the 20s and 30s was both his teacher and companion.  High school brought him into the city in much larger classes than the little one room which was his elementary school.  WW2 and service in the Army Air Corps came soon after high school.   The GI Bill of Rights provided the means to the college education dreamed of for years.  A wife, family, and business career followed, also with many forks in the road along the way.  After retirement and several abortive attempts to keep occupied gainfully, during retirement, he began writing newspaper columns by accident at age 75. Despite a learning disability and approaching blindness, this book was written with a mouse using a keyboard on the computer.