For the past 12 1/2 years I’ve been under the impression Dad passed on to the Great Coyote Hunt In The Sky. And then today, I’m flipping through the trillions of tv channels, when I come upon movie evidence that he has simply run off to be a monk AND the captain of a submarine. Wherever he is, I hope he’s happy. But if he’s not really dead already and Mom finds out he’s traipsing around in the pandemic world without her, she will surely hunt him down and see that he does indeed go to that Great Coyote Hunt In The Sky for real this time.
When I was working on my Master’s in Creative Writing at the University of Utah, my friends were all writers. When they would see a picture of my bearded dad in my apartment, they always commented that he was a good likeness for Ernest Hemingway. Of course, that’s what writers would see. Everyone else who saw him—especially in person—thought he was a near-ringer for Sean Connery. I can’t argue with either choice. He was a handsome fella, either way.
BTW Dad’s beard was all salt-and-pepper, not white as it appears in these pix. Blame my brilliant photographic skills and the disposable cameras I used back in the day.
