Maynard Lowery
Chessie Cat Maynard showed me one he was just finishing. Already launched and rigged, the Chessie Cat lay snugly up against his pier. Maynard invited me aboard, and as we sat in the cockpit he pointed out some of her features. I looked at the precise workmanship, admiring the attention to detail, and then my eye fell on a nearby cleat. “Is that wood?” I asked in surprise. He looked up from lighting his pipe. “Yes, I like to carve my own cleats sometimes. Make them out of locust.” So, that’s a quick sketch of Maynard. Now, Gentle Reader, back to our story. (Remember the books?) At the appointed hour, Mr. Maynard showed up with a half-dozen books. I looked them over thoroughly and did some checking on the Internet. We agreed that altogether they really weren’t worth that much, after all. Then he pulled out some photos
of a young fellow in a Coast Guard uniform. Sure enough, it was Maynard, looking dapper ~ and then he began telling me about his service while I scanned the photos. As soon as he left, I quickly jotted down some notes. That evening I wrote them up, then decided to dig out some related illustrations. Then I reformatted it as a pamphlet and made a simple cover with the title “A Conversation with Maynard Lowery.” I printed it out using heavy stock for the cover, saddle-stitched it in the middle, and folded it. It looked pretty good. I was glad I’d taken the time because I knew I would have forgotten the details quickly. The next day, I tossed it into my truck and headed for the Post Office. Guess who pulled in beside me? I said, “Hi, Mr. Maynard. Enjoyed our chat yesterday. And say, here’s something I found in the back room of the book store. Have you ever seen one of these before?” His eyes bugged out ~ then we had a good laugh. After I surprised him with the booklet, he surprised me by not making any corrections. So, here then, is the tale he told. It was the summer of 1940. Maynard and other Tilghman boys were wondering what to do. Although the U.S. wasn’t at war, Hitler was tearing up Europe and they knew the first peacetime draft in U.S. history might be coming soon. Also, they knew they didn’t want to go into the Army.
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