Opinion

The unique and fascinating life of Vander Clyde ended where it started, his birthplace of Round Rock, when the celebrated star of the trapeze and high-wire died by his own hand Aug. 5, 1973.

“The first time my mother took me to the circus in Austin, I knew I would be a performer,” Clyde once said of the big-top experience that gave him his calling. “From then on, I’d work in the fields during the cotton-picking season to earn money in order to go to the circus as often as possible.”

“Red” Goleman and an accomplice held up the bank at Hull in Liberty County on July 26, 1939. The Big Thicket bandit was setting a dangerous example for a younger brother, who would someday follow in his footsteps.

The Goleman boys grew up in the Big Thicket region of southeast Texas, where their overworked mother took in washing to put food on the table. Thomas Jefferson, the older son known as “Red” got off to a bad start as a backwoods moonshiner and eventually graduated to violent crime.

I’m not sure who the TV weather guy was, which city he served or exactly what he said, but if his observation passed down through the ages is even close to accurate, it still has wide application today.

The man must have had his news antenna aimed far beyond the weather. He was a philosopher as well.

This Ohioan not only predicted the weather, but also included an account of the colorful president of Ohio University. And, it was during flood conditions, for crying out loud… 

Taking the path less traveled is a philosophy on life that is also less traveled. There is a reason most people will go through the wide gate. As a species, we trend. Whatever the trends are, people will follow. Thus, the problem with democracy. 

True democracy is not what most people think. True democracy, historically, always becomes “mob rule.” Therefore, whatever the political, social or community persuasion may be, the mob will make it rule.

With the Summer Games in Paris only days away, let’s take a look back at the XV Olympics that began in Helsinki, Finland on July 19, 1952 and featured gold-medal performances from six different Texans. 

A popcorn tradition was born 50 years ago this summer in the garage of our home in southwest Fort Worth.

That was some 26 tons of popcorn and four machines ago. It was sparked by the late Dr. Veda Hodge, who owned a string of movie theaters and multiple West Texas oil wells.

They say having kids will keep you young. They also say your kids will give you gray hair and empty bank accounts. My kids are competent at generating all these conditions through their presence in my life. I love them with all my heart, and we have decided they are worth the investment despite the accompanying sacrifices. 

After spending two months overseas, traveling through 12 cities and towns in four different countries, I have finally made it back to Graham. If I could sum up the nature of my quasi-nomadic adventures in two words, I would likely tell you that it was “organized mayhem.” 

Afterglows are wonderful, but are waning of late. Many folks forfeit times of warm reflection, too busy in endless pursuits of whatever comes next.

Oh, afterglows are still around for important life events such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, promotions, holidays and such, but not like in yesteryear, when few roses went unsmelled.

Uncle Mort and his gang down in the thicket ignore the calendar, determined to enjoy afterglows after such trivial triumphs as finding quarters under sofa cushions, sometimes even dimes…

Anson Jones boarded a ship at Galveston on Jul. 11, 1838 for the long, roundabout trip to Washington D.C.

As much as the Massachusetts native dreaded the difficult journey, he disliked the destination even more. But Dr. Jones always found it hard to say no to Sam Houston.