All posts by George Walters

George Walters is a Canadian columnist and author with more than forty years of writing experience. For over twenty years he has written a weekly column for Postmedia Network — Canada's largest newspaper chain — never missing a single week, publishing fifty-two stories a year. Combined with his work in Reader's Digest Community Voices, World News, Country Living, The Country Register, and farm and rural lifestyle magazines across Canada, he has published well over two thousand stories drawn from everyday life. He writes about farm work, fishing, old trucks, and the kind of people you only find in small towns — but just as likely he'll hand a voice to a weathered telephone pole, or turn his eye on something happening in the world today and tell you exactly what he thinks about it. No subject is off limits. If there's a story in it, George will find it. He has been called a philosopher of everyday life, a description that came up more than once during his television appearances over the years — and it's not hard to see why. His writing has a way of making the ordinary feel worth sitting with. He is the author of eleven books, including yearly short story collections and the Clay Moretti Files mystery series. Clay is a fifty-year-old private investigator who drives a 1967 Ford Galaxie, smokes cigars, and operates by a code the modern world gave up on a long time ago. The cases are present day. The man handling them is not. All titles are available in paperback and eBook on Amazon. Together, George and his wife Ruth have also created Elmer Finds His Way, the first in what he hopes will be a long series of children's books. Ruth did all the illustrations, as she has for every one of George's books — and beyond that she designed and painted the covers as well. Her work is woven into every page of everything he has published. A few words from readers: "I pulled up a kitchen chair and read your story three times." "You have a way of making a person homesick for a place they haven't been to." "Thank you for writing things that make old people and kids feel the same way at the same time." All my titles are available in paperback and eBook on Amazon.ca here.

What’s Happening On April 19/2022

Click Picture to Enlarge!

Cool morning here in Port Loring, Ontario, Canada. And as you can see in the picture above, we had a touch of snow through the night. But with the temperature getting out of bed sitting at 2.1 C | 35.78 F it won’t last long. Highway 522 is wet, and travelling will be okay. But with gas prices sitting at $1.73 a litre, it makes a person think twice before going anywhere. Least for my wife and I.

On another note, my wife and I did a lot of work yesterday taking down some cherry trees out by the highway, that were broken off by a wind storm we had through winter. Took us most of the day. I have to tell you, my old body was sure sore last night. Kind of shows a feller how out of shape he really is, caused from being in the house all winter. Ha Ha. But the more outside work I do, the better I feel.

Today I am going to be working in the old woodworking shop on some orders and a few projects my wife lined up for me to make for our gift shop. Which we hope to open by the end of next month. We will see how that goes. Anyway, I have enough to keep me busy for the day.

With that bit of info under your hat … I am off for a bowl of cereal that my lovely wife is preparing for me, along with a piece of toast. Take care and stay safe. There are a lot of people out there at the moment that are pretty sick with this virus. GW

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

What’s Happening On April 18/2022

Good Morning! Not too much is happening in and around our community these days. With the weather being the way it has been, the virus, the price of food, lumber and things, along with the gas prices, people are staying at home. And it will only get worse in that department as, simply put, most won’t be able to afford to go anywhere. With all our government spending money in other countries, and on things that aren’t needed, our country is slowly deteriorating. I am thinking it will only get worse, as we are no longer are a country that thinks for ourselves. And what a shame that is. We are a bunch of sheep being herded in the direction that our powers that be want us to follow.

Anyway … it’s a sunny, cool morning here in Northern Ontario. But the sunshine will leave us shortly, with some light rain moving into our area later on today. The temperature waking up was sitting at 2.6 C | 36.68 F. It will warm up a touch, but not much as the day moves forward. Highway 522 is bare and dry for those wanting to do some travelling.

On another note, yesterday our oldest son left for home and made it safely back to the big city, and my lovely wife and I kind of took things easy for the remainder of the day. Today she is going to do some outside work raking and things, and I am going to get busy on some projects I have waiting in the old woodworking shop.

With that, I am off for a bowl of cereal and will then get to work. Hmm … maybe I will start the wood stove in the shop first. It will make things more comfortable working. Take care and stay safe.

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]

Who Knew Popeye The Sailer Man?

POPEYE THE SAILOR MAN

  • WHO KNEW?
    His real name was Frank “Rocky” Fiegel.
    He was born in 1868 in Poland and, as a child, immigrated to the United States with his parents, who settled down in a small town in Illinois. As a young man, Rocky went to sea. After a 20 year career as a sailor in the Merchant Marines, Fiegel retired.
    He was later hired by Wiebusch’s Tavern in the city of Chester, Illinois as a ‘Bouncer’ to maintain order in the rowdy bar.
    Rocky quickly developed a reputation for always being involved in fighting (and usually winning). As a result, he had a deformed eye (“Pop-eye”).
    He also ‘always’ smoked his pipe, so he always spoke out of one side of his mouth.
    In his spare time as a Bouncer, Rocky would entertain the customers by regaling them with exciting stories of adventures he claimed to have had over his career as a sailor crossing the ‘Seven Seas.’

The creator of Popeye, Elzie Crisler Segar, grew up in Chester and, as a young man, met Rocky at the tavern and would sit for hours listening to the old sailor’s amazing ‘sea stories.’
Years later, Segar became a cartoonist and developed a comic strip called ‘Thimble Theater.’
He honoured Fiegel by asking if he could model his new comic strip character, ‘Popeye the Sailor Man,’ after him. Naturally Fiegel was flattered and agreed.
Segar claimed that ‘Olive Oyl,’ along with other characters, was also loosely based on an actual person. She was Dora Paskel, owner of a small grocery store in Chester.
She apparently actually looked much like the Olive Oyl character in his comics.
He claimed she even dressed much the same way.
Through the years, Segar kept in touch with Rocky and always helped him with money; giving him a small percentage of what he earned from his ‘Popeye’ illustrations.
WHO didn’t love the cartoons??? We watched them religiously … so funny, so moral … each story had a good ending … wonder if kids these days even KNOW who Popeye is??? Who knew he was a real man??

All my books are available on my Amazon Author Page.

If you purchase a book, a brief Amazon review really helps new readers discover my work—it means a lot.

Support my writing: Support My Writing

In Closing, I Would Like to Wish You Well!

George Walters | [email protected]