Life On The Diamond Bar Ranch

About the Book

It happened in a Valley

Where the grass grew lush and tall

Large flocks of birds

Used to pass through there

In the springtime and the fall

The Valley was vast and wide

Surrounded by Purple Hills

And in the early springtime

They were covered

With Lilacs and Daffodils

The hardy folks who dwelt there

Lived lives of adventure and romance

And they would not have chosen

Any other place to live

Than on the Diamond Bar Ranch

About the Author

The author of this novel was born in central Texas near the end of the Great War to End all Wars in 1918.

At that time Texas was still on the frontier. The author was born into a farming community, located in central Texas, that struggled to exist depending on the vagaries of the weather. If the rains came and the crops of corn were bountiful the price per bushel dropped dramatically and the average farmer struggled to even purchase seed for next year’s crop. If the rains failed to come at the right time the crops dried up in the field. All that could be done was to borrow money; tighten ones belt and try to ride out another year.

When this writer was quite small his father moved the family to the Gulf Coast in Southeast Texas. South of the City and east of the main highway was the giant Spindletop Oil Field and west of the highway for miles thousands of wild long horn cattle roamed free. Oil, Cattle and Timber sustained a growing community along the banks of the Neches River. The writer’s Uncle grew up on the farm and when he moved to the city he figuratively brought the farm with him. The Uncle had purchased a half city block in a residential community. There he had a stable and corrals for his cow and several cow ponies. So this writer was around horses from an early age.

Government assistance was non-existent. When a man became too old to work he essentially survived on his offspring’s charity.

When this writer was eleven years of age the unwise investment strategies in the Stock Market finally resulted in a total world wide financial collapse. The entire world community was plunged into a decade long financial dark age. War erupted in Europe and Asia.

This writer served in the Regular United States Navy prior to the start of World War II on Battleships. During the War this writer served on one of the destroyers in Destroyer Squadron 12; the most heavily involved squadron in the early days of the Pacific War.

After the War this writer was a Teamster in one of Jimmy Hoffa’s biggest Unions on the west coast.

Later he became an Engineer on The Apollo Project from 1964 to 1967. All of these experiences in one way or another led to the writing of this book.