Mal’s original text would have been a handwritten manuscript. He credited a high school teacher who encouraged him to drop his typing class for his career in radio and television. (He took a drama class to replace typing.) I don’t know who transcribed the work for him, but it seems true to his words. As Dad said at the beginning, he was a talker. You can hear him in the printed text; there is a poetry here that results from Dad’s voice behind every word as he wrote it.
In places, the text indicates that Dad had specific photos, maps and sketches that should go with the text. I am afraid those may be in a box somewhere with a stack of yellow pads. So we have included family photos that illustrate the story. Mal loved to carry a camera and some of the photos are his.
We have not fact-checked this memoir. There are certainly errors. But it is the world as Mal remembered it. It is not all of his life, but clearly the important part.
In some places, I have added chapter headings. But usually Dad had put a fragment of text to indicate the change of topic.
The family will update the book from time to time with photos of our own. The most recent update was compiled on May 13, 2013. If you have comments or updates please feel free to send them along to: keith@bellairs.org.