...Plus the Many Inevitable Fragments

Sixth of February, 2007, over Vancouver Island

Dear Vincent,
[guitar and bassoon music in the background]
My dad, your grandfather, was born in 1939 and grew up on a dairy farm in Cheboygan County, Wisconsin. Both of his parents were born in 1898. And so, although he was a city person by the time we, his sons, came along, his childhood took place in a completely different world and we always loved to hear his stories. Recently, I was writing a tune with my friend, Timmy, and we were stuck. We needed a character. So, I sent Dad an email from a motel room in Saratoga Springs, New York. I said, "Dear Dad, Do I remember this correctly: When you were a little boy, did your family hire a guy to blow up a boulder behind the farmhouse, and could this gentleman's name possibly have been Dynamite Bill?" Apparently very excited by this question, he wrote back within half an hour:

Dear Peter,
He was Dynamite Bill, and he learned his methods/skills in one of the wars- he was about the age of my parents, and so it must have been the First World War- and he not only blew the boulder up out of the ground, but also caused it to split into two equal pieces, plus the many inevitable fragments. His fame was that in Prange's Department Store, the local department store, he dynamited the elevator shaft without disturbing the contents of the store, and also if a horse or a cow died, he would haul it away and "process" it into meat for the mink farmers to feed to their mink. You can imagine how I took this information in as an eight or nine-year-old. It was... something to talk over with the other fellow grade schoolers. Anyhow, Peter, so many stories and so little time.
Love,
Dad.

Now that, Vincent, is your grandfather. Anyhow, I hear it's tee-ball for you this summer and that you're excited about that. I'll be in town to catch a game or two. You keep up the good work.
Love,
Uncle Peter

[music stops, ambiance continues]