It’s been several decades since I first met Leonard Bessom. Back then he had straight white hair that hung to his collar and a matching walrus mustache. His uninhibited attitude and the twinkle in his eye placed him somewhere between aging hippie and aging elf. He worked deep within the bowels of the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum. Among his duties, perhaps the most intriguing, was preparing the bones of large animals (moose, hippos, gazelles, etc.) for study. For that he boiled them until they were free of flesh. He used huge kettles, suitable for witches and their potions, which sat over burners on the floor of the preparation warehouse. Fitting to his character, Leonard loved that job, most likely for its oddness. When I visited with him, he often told of funny incidents in his life that have stuck with me all these years. Now I am using those incidents and Leonard’s free spirit as the bases for stories that I have named after him. Two are now in the section Stories About Friends.

While you’re here, take a close look at the plum blossoms above.  Plums originated in China.  In Chinese culture the five petals represent the five blessings of life: health, wealth, long life, love of learning, and a peaceful death.  If we each had those, we would indeed be blessed.

This website is about my published stories. As you can see, I have sorted them into three groups: Stories about friends, Stories just for fun, and Stories of life and love. These stories are the building blocks of the site. So I guess that means that right now this site is under construction. Ideally, it will always be under construction, because I will be adding stories from time to time. So come back to visit every so often and check out my building skills.