Discovering a hidden treasure

This is the neighbor of famous writer Marjorie Kinnon Rawlings. Marjorie wrote "The Yearling" many years ago. This neighbor's name is J. T. (Jake) Glisson. He is seated here with his wife Pat. J. T. wrote "The Creek," a book about his adventures living in Cross Creek as a boy whose family came from Georgia. The title is similar to Marjorie's book "Cross Creek." JT is an established writer, illustrator, story teller and an adventurer. He has been to Japan. He has seen "The Yearling" done in the Japanese language. He did not understand a word, but when the bullet was fired from the gun Bang! he knew Jodie shot the deer. He would freely enter into Marjorie Kinnon Rawling's house as a kid and take food from the frig. He can still hear in his mind the typewriter on which Marjorie wrote her stories. JT talked about what good friends Charles Rawlings was with his dad and the contributions Charles made to improve Marjorie's place in Cross Creek. He talked about how quietly the breakup of the marriage took place when Charles asked his dad to look after Marjorie. JT stated that Charles went on to write sports articles for the "New York Post" in Tarpon Springs. Charles did not return North as expected. He went South and wrote about the sponge divers. JT talked about Marjorie's second husband, Norman Baskins. who buried Marjorie not where she truly wanted to be buried. Marjorie was buried near Zelma, a local Cross Creek resident who brought a lawsuit against Marjorie for remarks Marjorie made about Zelma in her book "Cross Creek." The remarks were colorfully true, but the lawsuit was settled for a dollar. JT said that on the grave stone was written "Here lies Marjorie Kinnon Rawlings. wife of Norman Baskins." JT also claims that Marjorie JT also said that Norman Baskins was buried next to Marjorie. The information which JT shared with my Mom, my sister, Glendon. and I was so great in over a four hour span. I was sorry for each bathroom break I had to take. It couldn't be helped, but I do think every word was rich with information. Mom was amazed at his ability to recall information. I felt this was more like a coach of a football team recalling every blow by blow detail about the game. Filling you in with all the small details and plays which would win the game. I wished we were able to bring Glendon's old video recorder. This way we could have watched it over and over again. We could catch the small parts which we may have overlooked. Even the small parts turned out to be vital. They fit into a larger picture which completed the history puzzle. JT stated "Cross Creek was a fresh water fishing commercial town." The local lake which was called Orange Lake was divided into pie shaped sections and different people were given a section to fish in. JT said his dad arranged for the drivers of other fishing companies to come by at night and purchase fish like speckled perch to take back and sell in the Northern states. JT also mentions a connection to competing with the fishermen of Lake and Orange Counties. He also made the citrus connection of growing and processing oranges from the orange trees. He stated that Lake and Orange County have to use more fertilizer than they did there. He also stated that when processing plants send pickers out to get oranges for frozen concentrate, they wait until the fruit falls on the ground. However, by this time the fruit could be molding and have a slightly turned flavor. My sister said "I have tasted this in concentrated orange juice." JT's porch reminded me of my former next door neighbor Ruth Browder's porch in the city of Oakland, Florida. Ruth's porch had similar soft yellowish white wood but JT's housed his drawings and bird sculpture in his porch. My sister Glendon said, "JT believed in working at your gift in life. Talent wasn't something just sprinkled on certain people." JT's home now, four miles across the lake from Cross Creek, has a huge tree with hanging Spanish moss and a swing which his kids enjoyed. Presently, he and his wife Pat have five grown children. One is a priest who lives in California. The others live in New York and one close by in Florida. They are proud of their children and grandkids. JT and my mom have the same birthday. JT signed a copy "The Guardian Angel 911" book for my mom and a copy of "The Creek" book for my sister's boss, Jay. JT stated that the residents of Cross Creek settled their disputes on the bridge. I guess this brought out a lot of locals to find out what the problem was. Mom also ask JT how he felt about being the model Marjorie used as the boy Jodie in the book "The Yearling." It didn't seem he talked much about the character, Jodie, but he did talk about his experience as a boy spent in the hospital to get his feet corrected. I guess this would remind me more of the character Fodder-wing, Jodie's best friend, who was crippled. Marjorie is gone and Norman Baskin is gone, but JT is a treasure of information which no one can place a price on.