The past 3 and a half years with the Inter-county Leader have been very pleasant and rewarding. Editors that showed me respect and gave advice were necessary for a fledgling writer as I. Gary and Robert, thank you.

There were lots of context, grammar and spelling errors that needed to be fixed (thank you Sue)

A growth of my ability to focus and express the way I think occurred. Quite a few people I met were pleased to put a face on the ‘Gators Grace Notes’ column. “Oh, your the Gator!” I would ask them what it was that intrigued them about my writing. Most of the time it was the encouragement they found that there was another person out there that had thoughts akin to theirs. Impossible stories of danger and rescue. Stories of a building faith and a lot of humor coupled with sarcasm, puns,and stumbles. We all have such stories. None of these stories are insignificant.

The by-line in the top of the columns, Grace Notes, is a reference to a musical staff note that has several diagonal lines through the staff. This indicates a rapid staccato that note hammered on’ rapidly and too fast to notate. I am a long time musician and used to read music pretty good. Another meaning of grace is the forgiveness I am given for straying a bit of the path I am walking. Eternity has already sent these stories to the publisher. He reads every one. I believe Jesus really enjoys my writing when I mention his name and His guidance and Grace.

I am now spending a lot of time amending, redoing and proof reading the book I have almost finished. The title of the book is ‘A fools highway to Redemption’. It is my life story and most of the columns I have written (and continue to write) will be in that book . It might be a thick book! There are well over 165 short columns so far.

All columns can be found at my web site, Gatorsgracenotes.com The menu page needs some work in categorizing. There are so many listed that I need to put them in drop downs of genres. {adventure, faith, satire and so forth. Drop me a note if you know how to better do this in the Word Press software! Email is GatorJack75@gmail.com.Your encouragement and friendships are precious to me. Those things, given to published writers, are very meaningful and uplifting. Keep it up to the writers you enjoy. We thank you for those words. I am still writing columns to Bottom line News and Views, published in Ashland Wisconsin.

The name I use, Gator, was given to me decades ago when I was asked by the leader for a photo. The article was about a fiddle contest that I was judging. The only photo I could find was of a little alligator, rocking back on his tail, playing the fiddle. It worked and it stuck. I even had vanity plates saying MRGATOR! The Jack part came much later when a friend, Jesse Selin, thought I needed a first name too. We decided on C.S. Lewis’ nickname, Jack. It’s got a little masculine ‘punch’ to it. Jesse also drew the line drawing of the Gator overnight just as a fun project. . I still love it.

I’ll let you all know when the book is available. Again God bless America and God bless you. It’s pretty good.

Jack Gator