The Speedster and the Skunk: A True Story from my Dad’s Youth

When my Dad was in high school in 1930, he traded his aging pony for an even-older car. From this 1912 Model T Ford touring car, he and his friends made an early hot rod called a speedster. Before the speedster had a windshield or a top, he drove it to a dance in Johnson City, Tenn. On the way back, a skunk blocked the way. Mistakes were made. As a boy, I asked for that story over and over. When I retired from small-town journalism, I wrote it down. It cried out for context and illustration. This book is the result. Obviously, I wasn't there for the conversations, but the context is as true as I could make it. Jim Caswell drew the cars and Laura Ann Sorrell drew the people. Earl Carter combined their work in Photoshop. The drawings are my favorite parts. I hope you enjoy this effort to reproduce Dad's story half as much as I enjoyed hearing it from him.