Book overview
The main question you have as a reader is the same question I get to anything I attempt:
"Why?"
"Why would you want to do that?"
That has been the question asked about nearly every endeavor I have ever attempted.
The answer is "Because I can."
Actually, the answer this time is, someone asked me to write a story they had heard me tell, so I did. When I finished with that one, I just kept going.
My name is Jim Lloyd. I have been a musician, a music teacher, a barber and, of course, a storyteller (an occupational hazard of a barber) all my life. I have spent the last forty years
serving as town barber in Rural Retreat, Virginia. The barbershop has always been a hub for sharing stories, music and news.
I love stories; they shape us every day. Most people don't even realize they are telling a story; I saw this, I heard that, I met so and so, I remember this; sharing their lives.
I grew up in the coalfields of Virginia and West Virginia listening to the stories of my elders. My grandfather taught me at a very young age that memory is important. He said stories will fade away when we are gone. People need to know, to remember. That is what we have here: memories.
Stories can inspire, be a warning, be a memory, make us laugh, make us think, or make us cry. Sometimes all at the same moment.
I hope you experience all the above with this book.
Allons-y
Jim
