Outskirts Press, INC.

The writing of this story began about twenty years ago. Believe it or not, it started as an obituary. As we (his children) gathered to write Daddy’s obituary, this writer vocalized that it was just not possible to put a life of eighty-one years into words that would fit on a 6”x9” page. Our brother, LaFell, jokingly said to me, “Johnie M, maybe you should write a book. That way you will not be limited in the number of words you write.” That was the catalyst for the story, and who could tell it better than his first born. I was determined that others would know the true greatness of a one who was often overlooked or assumed to be “just an ordinary man.” This author is a product of the Detroit Public Schools who earned graduate and post graduate degrees from Wayne State University and is a former educator.