Q: Can you describe your father? What did he look like and what were the
qualities that really attracted people to him?
BBC: My father was a very charming man, very much the southern gentleman. He
really did endear himself to people and not just adults but children, also. He
loved children and children loved him. He had a marvelous imagination, told
fabulous stories, one of which I remember was about the "Wiffle Wolf", which
was made up of the different parts of animals, including dragons and giant bats
and I can remember my youngest sister having nightmares and wasn't allowed to
listen
Q: What was your father like with you and your sisters? Was he playful,
didn't he turn pennies into candy and hide in the dark.
BBC: My father loved to play with his children and he had to do magic tricks,
taking pennies from behind ears and we did have a wonderful game of, we got
older, played hide in the dark. I remember one time he hid up the chimney with
the fire still lit. Well, it was still in coals but he hid there and of course
nobody thought of looking there. He loved to take us out on trips in our motor
boat, down the coast of Maine exploring deserted islands and we'd stop and he'd
tell ghost stories or we'd go fishing.
Q: Didn't he like to play games with Marie?
BBC: One of the things that Dad really liked to do when he was home with us
and we could be a family together, which was not all that often but we did have
a place up in Maine, one of two places that were far removed from the public
roads so that we could be a family together. One of the things that we did was
to play games and Dad loved to play poker. We had a great big green poker table
and I think we used match sticks or something, as poker chips and he also
enjoyed playing backgammon with mother. They had a running game going.
Q: Do you know about what your father did? What would he tell you about his
adventures?
BBC: I remember one time going to my father and saying, Dad please tell us a
little bit about some of your adventures and he turned to me and said, Bolling
read my books, like all the other school children. That wasn't exactly what I
wanted to hear. But, he really I think, the few times that he was home, the
little time that he was with us, he didn't want to think so much about his
expeditions, as he did just being with us and enjoying us, on a family level.
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