Gordon Lawrence "Larry" Clemens 1st of 5 children of Carl John Clemens and Noreen Ellen "Babe" Chatfield Born: Jan 14, 1934, Chico, California Married: Jun 16, 1956, Marian Louise McLellan, Upland, California Two children Gordon (Larry) and Marian, by Marian Clemens ~ In 1952 Gordon Lawrence … [Read more...]
4.09 Lore, Libel and Lies
Larry, Marian, and Catherine (me), 2006 ~ My brother, his wife, and I just returned from our fifth road trip of gathering family history: searching through county records, newspaper archives, and historical museums hunting for birth and death records, local articles, pictures, deeds, wills and old … [Read more...]
4.08 Cutty Sark and Carleen
Carleen Barbara Clemens 2nd of 5 children of Carl John Clemens and Noreen Ellen "Babe" Chatfield Born: Mar 13, 1935, Watsonville, California Married: Mar 15, 1953 (at age 18), Charles Evans "Chuck" Albertson, Sonora, California Three children Carleen and Chuck ~ Chuck died in 1996, … [Read more...]
4.07 Final Migration
Elizabeth Ann "Betty/Liz" (Clemens) Duchi 1939 - 2004 My sister Liz knew everything about everything—and what she didn’t know—she made up. Her library was lined with books from architecture, antique lamps and art nouveau to tomes on history, the human body and Henry VIII. She also had every … [Read more...]
4.06 I Must Have Lied
Liz and Catherine ~ When I finished writing the first half of this book, I sent copies to my family and had a few friends read it. They all liked it enough that I wondered if I actually had a “book,” so I ran it by Andy at my bookstore and he referred me to a retired New York editor living in … [Read more...]
4.05 My Sister Liz
Elizabeth Ann "Betty/Liz" Clemens 3rd of 5 children of Carl John Clemens and Noreen Ellen "Babe" Chatfield Born: Dec 3, 1939, Watsonville, California Died: Oct 8, 2004 (age 64), Sacramento, California; lung cancer Married: Feb 1, 1958 (at age 19), Anthony Leo "Tony" Duchi, Jr., Whittier, … [Read more...]
4.04 Elegy to My Father
Carl John Clemens (my father) 8th of 13 children of Mathew Sylvester Clemens & Barbara Nigon Born: Sep 25, 1905, Rochester, Minnesota Died: Sep 16, 1986 (age 80), Santa Rosa, California; prostate/bone cancer Occupation: Farmer, construction laborer, iceman, record store owner, dime … [Read more...]
4.03 Letter from Liz
My Sister Liz (Betty) ~ A letter from Liz (Betty) to Lorna Harrington, her childhood friend: 4-12-2003 Dear Lorna, It is so great to connect with you. We have lived (more or less) in Fallbrook since 1985. Before that we lived in San Clemente, before that in Vista, before that in Huntington Beach and … [Read more...]
4.02 Letters From Claudia
Claudia Clemens 4th of 5 children of Carl John Clemens and Noreen Ellen "Babe" Chatfield Born: Mar 28, 1942, Vallejo, Solano Co., California Died: Aug 21, 2011 (age 69), Escondido, San Diego Co., California; lung cancer Married: Sep 16, 1956 (at age 14), Bobby Milton McDaniel, Sparks, Washoe … [Read more...]
4.01 Unleashing the Flying Monkeys
Through Any Given Door ~ I imagine it’s no coincidence that my writing began when I was 53, the same age my mother was when she called it a day. Nor that it took me five years to write our chronicles, the same amount of time I lived with her when I was a kid. I have a suspicion she’s had a hand in … [Read more...]