Rusty Zippers

About the Book

In their earlier grades they had always joined each other on the playground swings but after Albert Ray convinced Al that if they moved the playground swing fast enough and high enough eventually the swing would make a loop and they would be the first in school to make a loop on the school swings. So each day they would make the swings go as fast and as high as they could. When the day came that Al went too high and the swing stalled and fell straight down; he held on for dear life as the fall from 15 feet high that broke the swing seat and one of the chains holding the seat. The teachers got involved and questioned their sanity and mentioned something called Physics that neither Al nor Albert Ray understood or believed because to them looping a swing was as simple as tying a rock on a string, holding the string in your hand and then swinging the rock until it looped around your finger.

About the Author

Alan Neil was born in Apple Springs Texas and his mother’s family and father’s family lived on adjoining farms. His mother’s family came to America from England in the 1640’s. They had lived in France before moving to England and on to America. They left France and England because of religious differences and needs for religious freedoms. They settled in the Carolinas but moved to Alabama after the first born son married a Cherokee Indian. They settled on a land grant of 640 acres and started the town of Trussville. They ran a Sawmill making lumber and farmed for a living. When the town grew and Birmingham started producing steel; the family provided timbers to build the Trussville church. Records show that most of the family was kicked out of the church for drinking, cussing and fighting. After the American Civil war they moved none stop to East Texas no man’s land which is between the Sabine and Neches rivers. During the 1940’s and 1950’s most of them moved to Houston. His father’s family had a similar migration but for different reasons. His father’s family started in Scotland on an Island named Jara. They were moved to Northern Ireland for a short time then on to America and to the Carolinas. Their trip from Carolina to Texas was not as quick as the mother’s family. They spent time in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Arkansas. His grandfather on his mother’s side married an orphan from Corsicana. Her family name was Green after the mother abandon them the 7 children were raised by a man who was Apache Indian until his death and they ended up in the orphanage. The seven children would get out of the orphanage one at a time and always to the custody of an older brother or sister. They would never tell their children about being abandoned by a very rich woman or anything about their New York City father. His grandfather and his brother on his father’s side of the family ran away for home in Arkansas from fear after killing a man and ended up in no man’s land. Grandfather married a woman who was a Neches Indian. His brother joined the Army and died on the battlefield during WW I. They lived in the bottom land of the Neches River and a National Forest. Inside the National Forrest was an area declared as a “Wildlife management Area” where family owned land would remain until today. They ran a farm and made whiskey for a living. There were many fights when the town’s people would call grandpa “Squaw man or Indian lover” but grandpa never missed a chance to oblige the offenders. Every trip to town was an adventure and there were fewer and fewer trips to town. That’s a lot of DNA to describe in detail but the entire family taught Alan Neil to be honest, be fair and do your duty to your family and country.. They also taught him to work hard but never work for any government and don’t owe anyone anything. This pretty much describes the author…..