My Birthday Again

It’s my birthday today. I celebrated it early this year by taking advantage of the unseasonal springlike weather this week and getting together with my 89-year-old dad on Thursday morning, getting a birthday haircut at the barbershop that afternoon, and eating a birthday fish dinner yesterday. Some gifts from my wife came earlier in the week, so today I’m spending today relaxing before I return to working on the edits of my upcoming book due for release in March.

Life’s been long and good. To celebrate it, here are some bits and pieces from my earlier years.

I was born on a wintery Sunday. My mother said she went into labor while laughing at Jerry Lewis. She and my father were watching Hollywood or Bust at the movie theater. She loved Jerry Lewis movies. My dad, not so much. He didn’t like Jerry’s style of humor, but he enjoyed Dean Martin’s singing. It was Dean and Jerry’s last movie together.

I came into this world around 11:30pm that Sunday, during a typical February snowstorm in northwestern Pennsylvania. I was Mom’s second child and the first to survive childbirth after her doctor said she’d never be able to give birth to children. She proved his diagnosis wrong and had four more boys. I became a big brother to, and protector of, a wild bunch of rapscallions.

When I was born, Dwight Eisenhower was the US president and a postage stamp cost 3 cents. Hawaii and Alaska weren’t US states yet.

Some of the news—good and bad—from the year I was born:

• Congress approved the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction to protect blacks’ voting rights,
• Hurricane “Audrey” destroyed Cameron, Louisiana killing 390 people,
• National Guardsmen barred nine black students from entering previously all white Central High School in Little Rock,
• The Russians launched Sputnik I, the first earth orbiting satellite,
• The FBI arrested Jimmy Hoffa and charged him with bribery,
• The Milwaukee Braves won the World Series,
• The Detroit Lions won the NFL championship,
• The Montreal Canadiens won the Stanley Cup,
• Jack Kerouac published On the Road,
• Dr. Seuss published The Cat in the Hat,
• And Laura Ingalls died in Mansfield, Missouri.

I became an avid reader at an early age and wrote my own stories. My schoolteachers encouraged me to continue writing. Comments in report cards and letters to my parents said:

• Steve loves to daydream;
• He has an amazing mind;
• His writing is extremely original.

But I wanted to be an artist more than a writer. I drew every day. Even later in life, I knew I wanted to be an artist. Aptitude tests for the Navy and college said I was creative and artistic. They also said I was responsible, reliable, and hardworking. I’d like to think those traits were instilled in me by my parents, grandparents, and teachers. In those days, we got the job done, no matter what we did.

I have always been a hard worker, but I’ve always had a very active imagination. I live in a bit of a dream world whenever I can get away with it. I’m a visual person and I appreciate beauty and design. I also love the outdoors where the wild things grow, so I spent a lot of my time outdoors early in life and became a wildlife artist after high school and college. I didn’t become rich or famous during the years that followed, but I did well enough and did what made me happy.

I also wrote stories. Pens and composition books went almost everywhere with me. I had too many stories in my head that needed let out, so I took up writing short stories for my family and friends. Later, when I considered writing as a side career, a quiz for authors suggested that I write Young Adult stories. It summarized me as someone who “loves to write about years gone by” and is “flexible enough to write like a teenager, with the wisdom and perspective of an adult.” So, I did that and self-published my stories via my desktop computer from 1990 to 2012 when I discovered Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing.

Today, I don’t write or make art as often as I did. Now, I read and think a lot. It’s only natural. I’m in the Thinking and Judgement part of my life, doing some soul searching. I have always been philosophical and contemplative to seek an understanding of the deeper reasons for life. Now, more than ever, I’m intrigued by the unexplained, the mysteries of life, and the phenomena of nature. My kinship and love for the outdoors sparks a deep appreciation for the wonderment and beauty of nature. When I’m outdoors in nature, I feel fully alive.

Quiet and serious, you are well prepared for whatever life hands you. —One of my personality strengths from a personality test.

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I was born on the day and year Laura Ingalls Wilder died. She was 90. She was the author of the best-selling “Little House” series of children’s novels. A friend who believes in reincarnation says that her soul returned on the day I was born, which is why I became a writer. Hmmm…

I became an actual author of sorts when I was 13 and received a typewriter for my birthday. I wrote stories, mimeographed the pages, put them in cardboard binders, and gave my books to family and friends. It’s pleasing to know your work is appreciated when someone says, “I loved your book. Do have any more?”

But as much as I loved to write stories, I loved to draw even more, which explains why I became a professional artist. If only falling in love with playing baseball had led to a career in it. I followed the Pittsburgh Pirates daily on the radio during my childhood summers. Roberto Clemente was my favorite player and I wanted to hit and field and throw like him.

Speaking of baseball, I met an actual baseball legend when I was 13: Ted Williams. Our town’s boat manufacturer made a line of fishing boats that he endorsed. Whenever he came to inspect the boats, he always made time to visit with the neighborhood kids. And since I was one of those kids, I was fortunate enough to hear him talk about baseball. He gave us batting tips that helped me become a better hitter. I even used a Ted Williams autographed bat to hit with when I played on my high school team. Go Bears!

I played baseball a lot when I was a kid, and I went on to play men’s softball when I became an adult. There’s nothing more thrilling than the one-on-one competition between a pitcher and a batter. Though I saw many great pitchers over the years, the fastest pitcher I ever faced was a woman. During a game, she struck out every batter on my softball team and pitched a no-hitter.

Another childhood love was music. I learned to play a few chords on guitar and to keep rhythm on drums, but I loved listening to it more. My father was a licensed disc jockey at my hometown radio station, WBVB, an FM country station at 106.3 that became a Christian station called WCTL. He worked weekends and taught me the ropes when I was a young teenager. After I graduated high school, I worked as a part-time deejay for a year before I joined the Navy when I was 19 and left deejaying to the pros.

After my military training, the Navy sent me to a flagship homeported in Gaeta, Italy. The 2 years I lived there, I discovered musicians and music that I’d likely never heard if I had stayed stateside. I also met some wonderful people and ate some delicious Italian cuisine. Traveling to several major Mediterranean ports took me to places with beautiful art.

While there, I discovered that there are Great White Sharks in the Mediterranean Sea. Luckily, that discovery was made on land where fishermen displayed their catches. I also traveled a lot on foot and by moped and car while I lived in Gaeta, and I ventured to farther inland places by train. Once, my lack of speaking fluent Italian caused me to board a wrong train and end up on the southern tip of the peninsula, known as the “toe of the boot.” Another time, I boarded the wrong train in Naples and ended up in Rome. This wasn’t a big deal since Gaeta was a short driving distance away by rental car.

After my 6-year stint in the Navy, my love of writing, art, music, and baseball followed me through marriage, raising a family, and building an art career. And during it all, my favorite pastime was reading. Still is. It began when I was 4—lots of children’s books back then, which carried over to comic books and eventually novels. Books of all kinds fill my shelves today. I have no favorite genre, even though I write mostly fantasy fiction. I don’t read many ebooks, either, though I have a Kindle Fire for those nights when I want to read and not turn on the bedside lamp. Otherwise, I love shopping for hardcover and paperback books. I’d love to find some old brick and mortar bookstores someday and be able to spend days perusing their inventory.

That’s it (for now). My allotted time to write this blog is over, so I’ll stop reminiscing.

Happy birthdays to all my readers. May you have a good and healthy life and have fun living it.

Steve, 2/10/2024

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This post “My Birthday Again” copyright © 2024 Steven Leo Campbell at stevecampbellcreations.com – All rights reserved.

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