PROLOGUE

You should know that any resemblance to persons or places de­picted in this book are purely inten­tional. This is indeed an autobio­graphical account of my existence at various locations, at differing times during my life. As such, it is intended to be factual, so street names and place names must remain as written.

I have endeavored to leave off surnames and have changed some of the characters names in the story. At best though, it is a thin disguise and can readily be penetrated by readers familiar with some of the persons or places mentioned.

It is not this author's intent to cause anyone pain or discom­fort by these revelations. Rather, it is told to shed some light on a particular moment which has some redeeming quality that caused the author to store the moment in memory until now.

The school and students who wrote to me and awakened my urge to write, are located in the city of Central Falls, Rhode Island. You may recall that several years ago, that city was involved in a major drug bust that netted (at that time) the largest amount of illicit drugs in the nation, and uncovered the Colombian, Medellin Cartel connection. The children of that area are still being affected by those circumstances. Several students, in their initial letters, have alluded to the drug problems the city has had, and, allegedly, is still having.

It was the desire of the author to contact old friends or teach­ers to reminisce about good times in past years. The letter-writing campaign intensified when it was turned into a
class project. At first I resented this intrusion by so many stran­gers. As I began to realize, however, the more I wrote to these students, the more clearly events stood out in my memory and the narrative began to flow more and more smoothly. For that alone, I owe the teacher and his students my deepest gratitude.

It is hoped the reader will be able to piece the story together without too much difficulty and that in doing so, will have a good read and perhaps some memory of your own will be called to mind by the narrative.

I wish to thank my wife who has been very patient with my absences and late night toil in this endeavor.

To the reader, enjoy.

John E. Hunt