In one of my rare tributes to a living relative, happy 92 (woo-hoo!) to cousin and fellow family-history nut Gail E Myers, pictured above with his father Lawrence, recently featured on his birthday, 10 February.
As a young man, Gail cut quite a figure as a bird-hunter, posing for this cover while in Mexico.
Later on, while employed in academia, he published a delightful novel.
Appropos to the author’s birthday, its plot features a long-standing superstition in the little, fictional Mexican village where the story unfolds. It held that the village could expect a miracle on the first day of March, each year. I won’t go any further, because you really should read it for yourself. Thanks to some recent marketing work by Gail himself, the book is widely available, new or used, in hardcover, paperback, and even ebook form. Among many vendors, Amazon.com has it at this link.
I have only been in contact with cousin Gail for seven or eight years, during which time he has been a generous and invaluable mentor, sharing a wealth of his own excellent results. Read more …
More recently, Gail has been tearing up the Southern Oregon senior-center circuit, performing a repertoire of beloved standards with his friend Phyllis.
More recently yet, Gail moved from his long-time residence to a new home with senior-friendly design, a concept he has been helping develop for years. I hope to visit him there soon. Happy Birthday, cousin!