Highlands Rotary Club recently listened to an update from Crosby author Charles Shafer about his book The View from the Chinaberry Tree, which has now been issued as a 4 volume CD set, with the author reading passages from the book.
The book is about his experiences, and in a larger sense all of our experiences, growing up in the small Texas town of Winfield, with a population of 251. The book was first published in 1996, and the CD set in 2008.
Titles give you a sense of this collection of short stories. These include: A Pocketful of Spinach; Hoboes and Gypsies; I Could Have Been a Cowboy; Khaki; Aubrey and the North Koreans; Sittin Nekkid in the Backyard; Television comes to Winfield; Mamas Gonna Kill Us Both.
Shafer tells these stories as if from a small boys perspective, with a sense of wisdom, and a sense of whimsey.
Shafer is a retired English professor, who taught at Lee College for 37 years, and was active in the Convict Education program.
The book is out of print, but the CD set is available by contacting the author, at 281-462-0410 or email candjshafer@verizon.net.