The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy

I READ episode nineteen of Dead Air, “If Saucers Attack,” to a sizable Saturday audience that probably included a few lawyers and several potential litigants. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

THE DEMOLITION MAN arrived in the morning. Lou and I went over in the launch to pick him up. We had expected the man and his wife, but we found six people waiting at the town dock. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

GRUMPY CLUCK SAID, “Somebody should invent a detector that gives a readout on that, what you called the mood of the house. If you could invent a gadget like that, you’d make a lot more than you ever did on flying-saucer detectors.” Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

I REMEMBER the rest of the day as a cacophonous competition between Dexter and Grumpy Cluck, with the nod going to Dexter, who put in an hour’s overtime, to the surprise and annoyance of all the inmates, with the possible exception of Alice, who found this development “fascinating,” and recorded it on her chart. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations...

Chapter 18September 27No Worries, No Kidding ALL OF US were on the porch, lined up in our rockers, waiting for Dexter’s dredge to start sucking sand and rending the air. When he started it up, we put our earmuffs on and sat there with our breakfast and our aspirin, watching him, at his mercy, . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at pe...

IN BED that night, however, I couldn’t sleep at all. Rain was falling, and the roof was leaking. It wasn’t leaking any longer in the spot from which drops fell on my head; now it was leaking in two other places. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

Then I read the seventeenth episode of Dead Air, “Is Anybody Out There?” Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

“BEFORE I BEGIN the next reading from Dead Air, ” I said to the group in the lounge after dinner, “I have something more to say about fallout shelters. “ . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

AT ABOUT THREE I gave up trying to get to sleep. I slipped out of bed, dressed in the dark, tiptoed to the door, and pulled it silently shut behind me, . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

THAT EVENING, in the lounge of an old hotel on a small island artificially infested with feral cats, I read episode sixteen of Dead Air, “Anxiety Pays.” . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

IN THE AFTERNOON, Albertine and I walked the perimeter of the island, along the margin, circumambulating our domain. This walk was once a part of every day, a high point of every day. In our early years here, . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

THOUGHTS OF GUNS filled most of my morning. The day before, while Elaine had been at the Rush Service office (or, as I learned later, pretending to be at the Rush Service office), I had been at Sun and Surf, choosing guns. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

THE GROUP that lingered in the lounge after the reading couldn’t get off the topic of fallout shelters. Apparently, I had revived for them an old debate that had been suspended but never concluded, . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

AFTER DINNER that night, Elaine distributed gifts. Each of us got a small gaily wrapped box, and she commanded us to open them in unison. In each box was a pair of earmuffs . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

DREDGING did not begin until seven. Albertine had managed to get the Department of Public Works to make Dexter hold off until then. Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

THE QUIET seemed so precious that we broke it only gently for the rest of the day. All our conversations were conducted in whispers, and although I am generally a spirited reader of my own work, my reading of “Bivalves from Outer Space,” the fourteenth episode of Dead Air, was uncharacteristically subdued. Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Ler...

HUPPA THUPPA WHUP! Huppa thuppa whup! Huppa thuppa whup! Fizzz. Huppa thuppa whup! Huppa thuppa whup! . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

BALDY closed his show that night with this: “Is this you, boys and girls? You are a refugee, an orphan, somewhere, anywhere, who knows where. You have been orphaned by tribal warfare, because the people of the other tribe hate your tribe because your tribe is not their tribe. Do you understand that? Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at p...

THAT NIGHT’S READING was “Local Boy Snaps Shots,” the thirteenth episode of Dead Air. Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

I SPENT the rest of the morning trapping cats. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

IT IS ALWAYS DIFFICULT to pin down the onset of an idea, but I think that it was this morning, when I surprised Albertine in the kitchen, on her hands and knees, scrubbing the floor, . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

WHEN I FINISHED, I held my hands up to silence the thundering ovation that was probably impending and said, “I have to ask you to forgive me for two mistakes in there, in that reading. Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

WE HAD a fine crowd that night. The day was bright; the sunset was rosy; the night was mild. On days like that, people get the urge to wander, and Small’s beckons as an easy getaway. . . . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

I AWOKE before the alarm went off, got up immediately, pulled some sweat togs on, and went directly to my workroom without any coffee, drawn by the guilty pleasure of working on Murder While You Wait . Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe

GRUMPY CLUCK turned out to be a great fan of calvados. After a few, he threw his arm across Albertine’s shoulders and said, “Jeez, honey, you know, this is a great place. I’ve never been so relaxed on a vacation in my adult life. You know what I’m saying?” Get full access to The Personal History, Adventures, Experiences & Observations of Peter Leroy at peterleroy.substack.com/subscribe