circus life

Top: Harold with his pet tiger,
Harold now, and his step-dad
Clyde Beatty.

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Time is a circus,

always packing up

and moving away.

Ben Hecht

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I promised this for a few people quite
awhile ago, so, here 'tis.

I met Harold about 3 yrs ago.
I spent about 10 hours talking with
him before he let me turn the recorder on.
He is such a fascinating person and had a
very colorful life. One story that did not
make it on the recording, was this one:
When he got out of the military and moved
to Los Angeles, Ca, he had a job at a shoe store.
Since times were tight back then and money was
hard to come by and keep once you had it, he
sometimes hitchhiked. On one such trip he
got in a car and on the whole ride was not able
to get one word in edge wise. Of course, he asked
me if I knew who this man was that picked him
up, and of course, I would not venture to guess.
Mickey Rooney, and he only was able to say
Thanks once he got to his destination.

The beginning is a bit choppy,
as I cut it too close, but you get
a good idea of what life was like
for Harold in the small circus town of
Peru, Indiana back then.

Total recording was 1 1/2 hrs,
and this is 20 or so minutes.