Mark Gimenez "The Perk"

I just finished Mark Gimenez' The Perkand I am conflicted. The book is set here in Fredericksburg, but it's not my Fredericksburg. It's a difficult book to get. It hasn't been published in the US and I think you will see why shortly.

The first sentence reads "She was posing outside the limo with a dozen other girls, like illegal Mexicans waiting for work on L.A. street corners." Which is perfect because that's what the book is about.

A "Perk" is, in Hollywood parlance, a perk of the job. It can be free booze, a stretch limo, or willing young girls to sleep with.

The Perk the book is titled after is Heidi Geisel. Heidi is a sixteen year old German girl. She's so eager to leave her hometown of Fredericksburg that she goes to Austin during the New Years' South By Southwest Film Festival (the first of many divergences from reality) to seduce stars to get a screen test. Her dream is cut short when she's found dead on New Years Day just outside of town.

Four years later, Beck Hardin returns to Fredericksburg. Twenty-four years ago, after his mother's death, Beck was so desperate to leave his German hometown that he accepted a Notre Dame scholarship and became a lawyer in Chicago. After his wife died of cancer, her returns to Fredericksburg to get his father's help to raise his kids. He runs for county judge, and wins because there is a particularly nasty case coming up: The star Football player who will lead Fredericksburg High to a championship assaulted a Hispanic kid. Prosecuting will end the championship run. Not prosecuting will get "the Mexicans all riled up," as one character put it.

The whole book is about this case, with the search for Heidi's killer the B plot. Which makes me wonder why it's called "The Perk"? It should have been titled "Them Damn Racist Germans" or "Them Damn Illegal Mexicans".

See, Gimenez seems to believe, or at least his Fredericksburg friends believe, that all the Hispanics in Fredericksburg, except the children (who were born here to give the illegal parents an "anchor") are illegal. And all it takes is a Federal raid to get rid of them all. They are even able to bulldoze "The Barrio". And the book ends with a Fredericksburg with almost no Hispanics.

Gimenez also believes that the Germans in Fredericksburg have formed a secret cabal to keep things the same as they have always been. While there is an element of truth to that, here it's greatly exaggerated. It reminds me of a Lone Ranger episode where the first sheep farmer comes into cattle country, with Beck Hardin as the Lone Ranger come to bring peace between the parties. But actual peace is achieved simply by deporting the Hispanics, which is probably why the book hasn't been published in the US.

Ultimately, though, the book doesn't pay off for me. The titular plot line isn't actually resolved. The killer never brought to justice, although he does get what's coming to him. But that all happens in the last couple of chapters.

Whatever you do, don't read this book and expect an exact depiction of Fredericksburg and it's citizens.

Dad is Mad

Last night Dad's cousin Nita Jim called and talked for 45 minutes. Normally she would call Ann. After he hung up, he said, "Ann Gale, they're calling ME now!" I think Ann would've liked that.

Christmas Eve Gift!

Ha! I win again!

Happy Veterans Day!

This is a picture of my cousin Gary and his unit in Afghanistan in 2002-2003. Gary retired from the Army shortly after returning home. A couple of his buddies took a second tour and gave their lives in Afghanistan. Take a few moments today to thank a veteran.

Thanks, T! We're proud of you!

Basin Brewers Kegerator Crawl

Over Halloween weekend, I went out to Midland and participated in the Basin Brewers Kegerator Crawl. They hired a van and a designated driver and hit three stops. We finished up at Gary's house about 1 am. Just to show you how old I am, I got sleepy before I got drunk. I felt sorry for Gary. He had to go to work that morning. I didn't feel sorry enough for him to go with him. I stayed at his house and took several naps. You can find some of my pictures at my brewing blog.

I'm not going to cry, I'm not going to cry. . .

Ann Gale (Holt) Turner, of Voss, passed away Thursday evening, September 10 at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.

Ann Gale Holt was born January 27, 1937 at the old Sealy Hospital in Santa Anna. Ann's parents were the late Claudia (Bull) Holt and Roger Holt. Ann's mother died of breast cancer when Ann was a teen-ager, at which time she and her two brothers came to live with their aunt and uncle - Welton and Audrey Holt at Gouldbusk. After having attended school at Santa Anna, Bangs, Wylie and several others - Ann graduated from Mozelle High School with the class of 1955. Ann has been very active in the planning and conduct of homecoming events for the Mozelle Schools and missed very few school activities at Panther Creek, even after her children all graduated. She then went on to graduate from the Hendrick/Hardin-Simmons School of Nursing and became an RN in 1958.

On September 28, 1958, she married Bob Turner at the Welton Holt home at Gouldbusk. Ann was an active practicing RN until retirement in 2004. She still kept her RN license active and participated in all the required continuing educational programs, even after retirement. During that time she served as Director of Nursing and taught LVN classes at the Coleman Hospital. She then worked several years as office nurse for J.D. Duke, M.D. in Coleman. Ann also worked over 20 years as school nurse at Panther Creek/Mozelle/Talpa-Centennial schools as well as over 20 years as the school nurse at the Lohn schools in McCulloch County. During this same time frame, she was also working in several nursing capacities at both Holiday Hill and Coleman Care Center (Leisure Lodge at that time) - to include consulting RN.

Ann and Bob have three grown sons - Gary of Midland - Sam and wife Mary Jo of Denton and Darrell and his wife Leslie of Dexter, New Mexico. She had seven grandchildren - Bailey, Cassidy and JoLea of Dexter, NM and Samantha, Garrett, Grant and Abigale of Denton. Her grandchildren were the apple of her eye, her only regret being that they didn't live close enough to see as often as she wished. Ann and Bob celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2008 - and only lacked 18 days reaching their 51st anniversary.

She has fought a long and courageous battle with cancer - the first of which began in 1990 - then with breast cancer being diagnosed early in 2004. Since that time she has been under constant treatment - radiation, chemotherapy, and even an experimental program. She became the poster girl for what a positive attitude and not giving up can do in prolonging quality life for all those who were close enough to observe. Ann, being a nurse herself, was not one to "shop for doctors" and was convinced that her Oncologist - Ralph Heaven, M.D. and the staff of doctors and nurses at Hendrick were the world's finest.

Ann is survived by her husband, Bob; her three sons and seven grandchildren, as well as her two brothers, Jerry and wife Bennie of Fredericksburg, Texas, Donn and wife Ann of Fredericksburg, Virginia, as well as numerous uncles, aunts, cousins and a host of really special friends. She was preceded in death by her mother and father, Claudia and Roger Holt, her aunt and uncle Welton and Audrey Holt, all her grandparents, and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

Ann's funeral service will be held 2:00 p.m. Sunday, September 13 at the First United Methodist Church, 500 W. Liveoak, Coleman. Burial will follow in the Voss Cemetery under the direction of Stevens Funeral Home, 400 W. Pecan, Coleman.

Family visitation will be held 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. Saturday at Stevens Funeral Home.

Memorials may be made to Hendrick Hospice, 1682 Hickory, Abilene, Texas 79601, Gouldbusk United Methodist Church, c/o Terrye Nanny, 6775 FM 1026, Gouldbusk, Texas 76845, Voss Community Center, c/o David Pate, 38 CR 340, Voss, Texas 76888; Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, attention: Donor Services, P. O. Box 650309, Dallas, Texas 75265-0309.

Sam Houston Quote

"If I could build a wall from the Red River to the Rio Grande, so high that no Indian could scale it, the white people would go crazy trying to get beyond it." - Sam Houston