The Russian Odyssey

I chose to publish this book that my father so beautifully wrote. His words depict the man he was, which was very fond of people and life in general. He always went the extra mile. I am so very proud of this book and my father being able to do such a good job while writing it on a very busy trip and being 66 years old at the time. This was a very challenging trip and my father was no “”spring chicken” so to speak when he and his brother in law took the trip.

I decided to publish this book and started working on doing so in 2013 and had planned to present it to my father for Father’s Day 2014. Unfortunately he passed away 1 month earlier on May 19 2014 after many years battling Parkinson’s disease.

I wanted to do something for my father as he had done so many things for so many people throughout his life. My father surprised me with a horse one Christmas. I awoke and looked in our backyard and to my surprise there was a horse adorned with a large red bow. It was special things like this that I will always hold in my heart. My father was a great provider and worked very hard to give us the things that we needed and wanted. We spoke many times about my sister and our childhood days and he would smile and say… “The Best Days of My Life”! He meant every word of it, I could feel and see it.

So Dad, here is your book. I am so sorry it did not make it on time but it is here now for the world to enjoy.

I love you dad… and Thanks for being “The Best Dad a Girl Could Ever Have!”

More about the author:

Richard Roy Dews was born in 1927 and grew up in Lynchburg, Virginia. His first job was delivering for a pharmacy. He rode a motorcycle to do this and this started a love affair with this mode of transportation. He and his best friend made a trip to Canada, riding together on one. All of his life he talked about wanting a motorcycle.

When he was 17, being very patriotic, he decided to join the Navy. This was in the midst of World War II. He served a year and the war was over. He came home wondering what he was going to do. A friend told him he was going to Phillips Business College and Roy decided that would be a good thing for him to do also and the GI Bill would pay for it. This turned out to be a very fortunate choice for him. Not only did he study Accounting, Economics, Business English, etc. but also learned shorthand and typing, excelling in both. He completed the two year course.

Then his old friend, the pharmacist, told him that NCR Corporation (then National Cash Register) had advertised a job opening for an office manager and encouraged him to apply for it. At first he did not feel qualified for the job and hesitated to apply, but the pharmacist went to the NCR Branch Manager and told him he would be crazy not to hire Roy because he was very qualified and also “the best boy in Lynchburg”. He was hired and this began a life-long career with this company. After a few years as Office Manager, he was encouraged to go into sales. Another time he hesitated but decided to take a Dale Carnegie course to bolster his salesmanship, and hence another type of career. After several years of sales, he became a Branch Manager, moving many times to new locations while moving up the corporate ladder with his first wife Shirley, daughters Jane and Susan. He was promoted to Regional Marketing Director of the Southeastern region of the U.S and ended up residing in Atlanta for the past 40 plus years. Many men attribute their success to his early training in discipline, organization, integrity, and even dress.

After retiring he and his wife Marie spent a great deal of time traveling. They drove through France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain; visited China, Japan, Hawaii, Alaska, most of Canada, Mexico, South America, and made a driving trip through the United States which culminated in their having been in all 50 states. Then there was the trip that he wrote about in this book.

Roy’s only two children Jane and Susan are still living.