“Pal, get that damned car out of the tree” - Big Charlie to his younger son....

While at Tech, I bought my first car, a dark green 1938 d 2-door Ford. I thought that it was wonderful but it did have mechanical problems.

There was a huge oak tree in th middle of the head of our driveway. Its large lower limb was perfect for housing my car up so that I could work on the underside. Unlike Jim Manry, though I was a useful mechanic’s aide, I was not a natural mechanic. I thus got a lot of help from Jim and others.

But one evening, while enjoying his gin and tonic, my father told me: “Pal, get that damned car out of the tree”. It was out and Manry’s chain hoist returned very soon thereafter.

The car did see me through Tech…