Wornout Memories by Ross McSwain ($19.95 paperback) is the kind of book everyone should publish – a collection of stories about the writer’s life. Of course, most folks don’t write as well as McSwain, a longtime newspaper columnist, but still . . .
Several things I especially like about this book: One is the format, done in 8 1/2 by 11 format with easy-to-read type. Another is his reference to his early days in Port Arthur, Texas, on the Gulf Coast, where he drank Seaport Coffee, which his Uncle Ed said was “too thick to stir and not quite thick enough to plow.”
That brought back memories of my own father, who brewed Seaport (dark roast) in a special coffee pot, and no one in the family could — or would — drink it but him.
Most of the book is set in West Texas where Ross encountered and writes about such personalities as Elmer Kelton, Billie Sol Estes, James Michener, actor Jimmy Stewart, and the tragic death of his youngest son, Robert.
