The Orphan
by
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Grand Central Station stood dark and dirty, grimy with soot, dank with mildewed cobwebs trailing down from the rusty iron trusses. Little did Billy realize that his life’s journey with cold, dirty slabs instead of upholstered easy chairs. As far as he knew this was normal. All children lived this kind of life. The five buses, carrying the Orphans, crept south down the avenue, through the mid-morning traffic, windshield wipers clearing away the drizzly mist. They didn’t stop at the front of the station, but were marshaled directly into the engine yard, and there the priceless cargo was unloaded. The supervisors, Rev. and Mrs. Schwinn, helped by ten volunteers from the Children’s Aid Society and ten station porters, lined the children up beside the cars they were to ride in. The older children, ages six to ten, were lined up alongside the last cars; those in the middle age group, four to six, were lined up alongside the front cars and the three and four year olds by the middle cars. The volunteers were all social workers who helped out at the orphanage two or three days a week. They knew many of the children by name, especially the active live wires like Billy, whose head was too big for his frail body and whose eyes were too big for his head. They eyed him warily; it was as if they were afraid this human volcano would break loose and erupt.
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About the Book
In The Orphan, Suda has written a gripping, fictional account of an orphan riding an orphan train, along with 102 other orphans, westward from New York through the Midwest. The story is based on his personal experiences, at the age of five, riding such a train. While the orphan trains had many routes westward, this one was across the center of the states until at a small town in northwestern Missouri, a Swedish farm couple took Bill off the train. Seven years later, as a vagabond runaway, he hobo-ed across the western states for the next two years, having all sorts of experiences, both good and bad. A street gang fight in St. Louis ended his roaming as the Big Brothers took him into their Boy’s Hotel. He has had many non-fiction articles published and several fiction stories, including winning a short story contest.
About the Author
1920 |
Born in Bridgeport, Conn. |
Helped organize the Big Brother Organization in Houston.
Held various local and state offices in the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce.
Coached Little League Baseball for eight years.
Member of Knights of Round Table.
Member of Houston Board of Realtors.
Member of Condit PTA.
President of Westmoreland Civic Club.
President of Missouri Alumni Association.
Precinct Chairman – Republican Party – Harris and Burleson Counties.
Southwest Regional co-chairman for the Elect Eisenhower Committee.
Member of Sigma Delta Chi – Professional Journalism fraternity.
Played semi-pro and minor league baseball.
Short Story The Orphan Train – First place in the Texas Citizen contest.
Short Story Orphan – One of Ten best stories for 1993 – American Literary Press.
Short, Short Story Colossus – Published in Iliad’s Impressions.
Short, Short Story Possum – Accepted by AES Magazine, to be published.
Series (Episodes) of Back Talk at Koehler’s Korner – Published by Texas Citizen.
Articles published in National Real Estate Journal; Air Trails; Editor & Publisher; St. Louis Post Dispatch, among others.
Editor of various house organs including The Masthead; Sparks & Flashes, and The Dynamo.
Also a political column – A Conservative Viewpoint.