From Skip in Carlsborg, WN
Just finished your book. Didn’t use the bookmark because I couldn’t put it down until I finished reading it. I sat on our living room sofa, laughing out loud with tears “streaming down my face.” I only like Cream of Wheat when I put molasses or brown sugar on it. I was lucky to have a mother who liked to stir things on the stove! I always wanted a sea gull for a pet, but got stuck with dogs, cats, goats and a parakeet named Pretty Pete. Only Pete learned to fly. I knew what a block of ice was because my dad delivered ice to people with ice boxes in our little Midwest town of Story City. I can’t wait to try your recipe for “graham cracker pie.”
All of that to say, I enjoyed my afternoon reading your charming, funny book. My childhood adventures in Story City, Iowa did not include water, a mountain or a friend called Gook. We had cornfields for hide & seek, a river called Skunk River and tornadoes in the summer. I had uncles named Stub, Shorty & Red.
Thank you for writing and publishing your delightful stories.
Now it’s Ken’s turn to chuckle at your humor. Skip
Excerpts from a review by Caroline McCullagh
The March 2021 issue of The Mensa Bulletin.
”I had had just read parts of three bad or boring novels in a row… I was praying for a good book. And, guess what; my prayer was answered. The book is Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight by Bob Barker. [His] memories are engrossing, his writing excellent. Barker paints a wonderful picture of the time and place in clean crisp sentences packed with information.
If you are considering writing a memoir… you need to read memoirs to see how it’s done. I would recommend Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight for that purpose. I also think this story would be a good basis for a novel— it’s a good, good book. Caroline McCullagh
An enjoyable series of vignettes from a life well lived, full of insight to a time most of us have never experienced Ted, CT
One wicked corker of a tale! I read this book from cover to cover as soon as it arrived in my mailbox. With each turn of the page, the crisp smell of a cool sea breeze and the sounds of the Atlantic coast became more and more real. I will keep this book close by always, as a reference for those moments when my mind yearns for a fond escape to Harborside. My only complaint about the book was how quickly I read it, for I know the author has many more stories to tell. Encore! Ben Austin, TX
I really felt like I was in Maine. A wicked good story! from a Nebraskan in Connecticut Allan, Stamford, CT
Well, your book arrived today and I have already read the first 9 chapters. I am taking time out just to tell you how much I am enjoying it Harvey, FL
I just finished reading “Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight.” I loved it! So much fun imagining your life up at the top of the existing driveway to Twin Birches. I’m planning to see if I can find the rock you used when you tried to teach your birds to fly. Your story telling ability is beautiful.
Thank you so much for alerting us to your book. We feel honored to occupy your old stomping grounds.
Alida and Stephen , Harborside, ME
Illustrator Leslie Moore reports:
I’ve gotten two good reviews of FFF. Rachel Snow, 94 now, who grew up and lived all but the last few years of her life on Cape Rosier (She moved to Salem Township to live with her daughter) wrote: “Thank you for the autographed copy of FFF. Brought back many memories. Dick Howard married Ethel Tapley, who was in my high school class, and a wonderful friend. They lived in Brooklin. Both gone now.” She goes on to talk about Holbrook Island and its owners. “I also think before Holbrook, The Island may have been owned by a Bakeman (my grandmother Lucy’s family). They lived at Goose Falls in the old square house Keith [Rachel’s husband] tore down. It sat just across the bridge coming from Harborside.” You may remember that house.
Also Margie Matter, formerly of Brooksville and now living in Tuscon, wrote: “I love your book! The Fuzz book–cute story by Bob and your designs are just super! I do wish the landscapes had been printed a bit larger as you have such a lot of detail–need a microscope to see clearly–which I have used–all of them have such real character, as your drawings always do.” OK! That one’s more about me than you, but I just had to share. Leslie, Belfast, ME
From Writer’s Roundtable
On 7/6/2020 9:58 PM, Eleanor wrote:
I have received your lovely book and find it charming and funny. My husband keeps looking up as I chuckle. I really need that escape to another place and time right now. If he’s nice to me, he gets to read it next.
More later, when I’ve read further. I’m still getting the gun out of the cesspool.
[Later]
One time, early in my first marriage, the line to our septic tank was blocked up. We hired a plumber to fix it and they sent a rookie who didn’t have the sense he was born with. My husband, a chemist, who grew up in Vermont where they can do anything, gave a sigh of disgust, looked at the penciled map on a cellar beam, and located the tank.
It was the night before Halloween and it was already dark. Very dark. He dug down to the lid and pried it up. “Now I’m going down into the cellar and push the probe through. You tell me if it comes out.”
“How will I know?” I asked.
“Well, take this flashlight and hang upside down with your head over the tank,” he instructed.
Oddly enough, it didn’t smell. It was just like a lake of old dishwater. After a while, the “rabbit” came poking out of the drain, pushing a claylike substance ahead of itself, which plopped down into the tank.
“What AM I doing?” I asked myself, hanging upside down in the dead of night into the septic tank.
Oddly enough, I was just mostly impressed that he figured it out and fixed it. Eleanor, North Haven, Maine
Thank you for sending the book so promptly. I sat out on my porch and read the first several chapters early this morning. I enjoyed them very much and look forward to reading the remainder of the book.I related to your cesspool story, because I was that close to being immersed in it, myself!
I look forward to reading about Tony and Jo. Just last month my wife and I got to watch the development of three robins from the egg to the day that they were on the own. The nest is empty now and I wonder what will become of the babies. The whole experience gave me a new insight into the nature of little creatures.
Your story about the boat trip to Belfast came home to me, also. There have been times when I was also “terrified” with small boat experiences.
I remember watching my grandfather roll his own cigarettes, just as you related in one of your stories.
I will tell you that just reading the first several chapters of your book has given me motivation to begin a book of memoirs of my early years in Rockport. Thank you for the inspiration.
Am enjoying the book so much!
Best wishes, George, Rockport, MA
Last night I finished your marvelous book. I loved how you conveyed the flavor of life in the 30’s and 40’s in northern Maine with its hardy characters, as well as the descriptions of nature and your relationships to it. The Toni and Jo story is so touching. The goat story is hilarious. The end of the book made me laugh so hard. “This story has no sequel” was so appropriate as its last sentence there, but I hope that your BOOK will have a sequel. I’d like to hear more about cheeky Bobby and his friends and the adventures of adult Bob. Please keep on writing. Christina, Greenwich, CT
I just finished your absolutely delightful book. The wonderful story of Tony and Jo and your description of life in Maine works like a salve in these very harsh times. I feel better already. And yes, fried cream of wheat is a delicacy I remember from my own childhood with pleasure. (Griesschnitten)
Also, thank you Bob for that fun glossary. I needed it and really enjoyed it.
Waiting for your next book, Marlies, Katonah, NY
Fuzz, Feathers, and Flight 