Pond Mountain Tales

Book excerpt: Pond Mountain Tales recalls experiences of the author during his eleven-year stay at Pond Mountain, a two-hundred-acre farm, with his first wife, their three sons, and eight dogs. Close encounters with snakes, blue herons, geese, turkeys, and vultures were a daily experience. Three lakes teeming with fish framed a story of the author's fishing parties for claimants in one of his settlements. A parody of point and counterpoint between a famous plaintiff lawyer and a chemical manufacturer is also featured. The author's house at Pond Mountain sports a two-boat garage opening on both ends for his bass boats, and the two stories of the Pipe reflect the competiveness of tournament bass fishing. Turmoil and psychological paradoxes in the author's life during this period are reflected in To Be True and Chocolate Pants. Though the author has left Pond Mountain, his memories live on in these stories.