Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Introduction

Vern’s Autobiography was found in two parts. The first part of Vern’s life was originally hand-written by himself, from which Sybil took and then typed out on a typewriter. The original hand-written version of this part has either been lost or destroyed and is no longer available.

Eventually, Sybil got frustrated with Vern’s story because it wasn’t exactly historically accurate (he probably took some liberties in writing his story J ). She stopped typing it and from there we have Vern’s hand-written version.

Vern’s hand-written part is difficult to read at best. There are times where it is impossible to know what is being said. Those times are noted by using a question mark “(?)” after the word, phrase, and/or sentence.

The notes and clarifications the complier includes are noted by the use of brackets, [ ]. Some of the punctuation has been some what modernized and corrected—but maintained the original meaning. Also, there are some inconsistencies with spelling of certain names and locations. Most likely, the names are referencing the same locations, but to maintain the integrity of Vern’s autobiography, they are spelled as he (or Sybil) spelled them. 

Please also note this autobiography was never finished. Vern was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in the mid-1990s and was never able to finish his life story. At the end of his story, there is an epilogue which summarizes what happened after Vern stopped writing.

At the end of this book, there is a section of pictures of Vern throughout his life.

Hopefully you will find this autobiography enlightening and entertaining. Enjoy!

1 comment:

  1. Wow this is so cool! Great job on putting this all together. My grandma did a similar project for her father and had it made into a book. It is one of the coolest pieces of family history we have. Can't wait to see how it all turns out!

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