Down Home Missouri: When Girls Were Scary and Basketball Was King

175 Pages·2000·0.651 MB·English

by  Joel M. Vance

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DOWN HOME MISSOURI
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DOWN HOME MISSOURI
When Girls Were Scary
and Basketball Was King
oel ance
J M.V
niversity of issouri ress
U M P
Columbia andLondon
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Copyright © 2000 by Joel M.Vance
University ofMissouri Press,Columbia,Missouri 65201
Printed and bound in the United States ofAmerica
All rights reserved
5 4 3 2 1 04 03 02 01 00
Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Vance,Joel M.,1934–
Down home Missouri :when girls were scary and basketball
was king / Joel M.Vance.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-8262-1307-3 (alk.paper)
1. Vance,Joel M.,1934– —Childhood and youth.
2. Country life—Missouri—Dalton Region. 3. Authors,
American—20th century—Biography. 4. Missouri—
Social life and customs. 5. Dalton (Mo.)—Biography.
I. Title.
CT275.V216 A3 2000
977.8925—dc21
[B] 00-061539
V‘ This paper meets the requirements ofthe
American National Standard for Permanence ofPaper
for Printed Library Materials,Z39.48,1984.
Text design:Elizabeth K.Young
Jacket design:Vickie Kersey DuBois
Typesetter:The Composing Room ofMichigan,Inc.
Printer and binder:Edwards Brothers,Inc.
Typefaces:Minion,Freestyle Script,Artisté
Photoscourtesytheauthor,DaltonHistoricalSociety,andKeytesvilleHighSchool.
Frontispiece:Aerial view ofDalton
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WITH LOVE
tothetwopeoplewhogavemethelifethatis
inthesepages, mymotherandfather,
andtoMarty,
whostillisthebestkisser I everknew.
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Contents
1
Me and Al Capone 1
2
Down Home 18
3
The Gun 39
4
Moving South 50
5
Little Town Dying 63
6
The Big Radio 77
7
The Three Friends 85
8
Tampering with Religion 97
9
The Game ofSummer 109
10
The Nazi and the Hell Machine 119
11
Dating in the Dark Ages 126
12
The Making ofa Non–Farm Boy 138
13
Pals 147
14
Winding Down 155
vviiii
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DOWN HOME MISSOURI
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