The Many Deals Through Sixty Years

From the May 2006 St. Thomas Super Shopper

There was a telephone message from the library at the University of Western Ontario. No, it wasn’t asking me to be a guest lecturer on “The Phenomenological Implications of Starting and Running Your Own Business In a Trans-Gendered and Post-Industrial Age” although I’ve done all the research.
It was about my dad.
Specifically, it was about my dad’s book called “The Many Deals Through Sixty Years”. In this tome, he writes about the rise and fall of stockyards and the cattle dealers he’s known.
I acted as editor on the project, at least I like to think so, although the front-page credit is lacking. Perhaps he didn’t appreciate my suggestion for calling steers-riding-steers “trans-gendered”. Something about mountains and being broke in the back. I couldn’t follow it all.
He’s written three books about his life as a cattleman and farmer in west Elgin and south Middlesex. Who knows how the university got wind of this one?
The university library had called the printer who referred them to me. I left a message saying I was pretty sure my dad would sell them a book and mentioned his other publications, just in case.
A pleasant university librarian returned my call. She said they were pleased about all this but they didn’t know about buying the other books. However, they thought the six dollar cover price plus shipping seemed very reasonable.
The P.O. had mentioned a $25 price. For that, my dad said he’d send them all three books, including shipping.
But I suggested he should send the one book, mention the others and see what happens. You don’t want to screw up the system. If you do, what’s the point of the system?
His name is Harold M. Carroll and he left school after Grade Eight and started to farm. Never had a lot of use for schools and teachers. And now he has a book going to the U.W.O. Library.
Imagine that.