You hold in your hands a poetical grab-bag that contains everything from the products of youthful "raging hormones" to the uncensored irreverence of advancing age, a total of 125 pieces that span 46 years. Among these you will find a post-9/11 verse for "The Star Spangled Banner" a Riley-esque homage to a history-minded Hoosier town poet, the aching tragedy of a life inexplicably cut short, a series of snapshots of a rambunctious child from crib to commencement, tributes to one of the best writers who ever lived, and several unforgiving self-portraits. Tassinong was the oldest village in northern Indiana, founded as a French mission and trading post in 1673, according to the historical marker that lists an ancestor as one of those who incorporated it. It is located in the front yard of a farmhouse at the head of Baums Bridge Road near the outlet to Indiana 49 about eight miles south of Valparaiso, Indiana, where I was born.
