Foreword
Dedication || 1: MAYPORT
I am honored to have been asked to write this foreword,
and my attempt to do so will be with the knowledge that any-
thing I write will do little justice to what lies between the covers of this book. To fully appreciate this work, one must know
the author, and to know the author, one must read the book.
Them Good Ole Days is a backward look into more than
just the times and history of a most interesting area. It is a
look into the lives and experiences of real people, who, at the
time, had no thought whatever that some portion of their
everyday living would be shared with many others. Through
the stories gathered herein runs the threads of wit, humor,
seriousness, humility and philosophy that weave themselves
into the man Ed Smith.
As one would know, a great deal of research went into the
preparation of these writings. Many hundreds of hours were
spent by the author talking to the "local folks" and conversing with them about the times we so often push to the back
of our memories, only to be retrieved when relaxed and in the
company of good friends of long standing. From the relating
of facts and re-telling of tales, to making side comments and
personal remarks emerges the person of a complex man of
simple beginnings, with a most unique style of writing.
So often one must not take a sentence or word at its superficial value but probe beneath this to
discover a depth of warm,
witty philosophy so typical of the humble, intelligent man.
This is an honest book, leisurely, but laboriously written; a
book to be enjoyed by anyone who has known someone they
consider to be "the salt of the earth."
C. Ben Robertson
