Stodghill Says So

An opinionated posting on a variety of subjects by a former newspaper reporter and columnist whose daily column was named best in Indiana by UPI. The Blog title is that used in his high school sports predictions for the Muncie Evening Press.

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Location: Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, United States

At the age of 18 I was a 4th Infantry Division rifleman in the invasion of Normandy, then later was called back for the Korean War. Put in a couple of years as a Pinkerton detective. Much of my life was spent as a newspaper reporter, sports writer and daily columnist. Published three books on high school sports in Ohio and Indiana. I write mystery fiction for Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and others. Three books, Normandy 1944 - A Young Rifleman's War, The Hoosier Hot Shots, and From Devout Catholic to Communist Agitator are now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers. So are four collections of short mysteries: Jack Eddy Stories Volumes 1 and 2, Midland Murders, and The Rough Old Stuff From Mike Shayne Mystery Magazine.

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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Drugs, Real Estate and Such



Someone belonging to that large family named Anonymous left a message on my shout box - yes, I have a box for people who want to shout at me - asking why I never write about my careers as a drug salesman or real estate salesman. That's easy to answer: I was a total failure at both.
Actually, I have written a lot both here and elsewhere about selling drugs. The biggie was Obestat and you didn't have to sell it, housewives were lined up to grab the stuff out of your hands. Why? Because the key ingredient was methamphetamine. It supposedly was a diet pill but skinny women were eager to get their share. A few years after my six-month "career" people went to prison for selling it. Obestat is still on the market but without the methamphetamine.
As for real estate, you could count my sales on your fingers. Perhaps using only one hand, but I forget. I never could understand it because I had a great sales pitch that went something like, "You don't wanna buy no house, do ya?"
My main problem, I think, was always pointing out the 30-year-old furnace, the missing shingles on the roof, the cooling breeze from the open space between the window frames and walls, stuff like that.
I did list some houses, though. There was one where a murder had been committed that stands out in memory. Guess who got to clean up the dried blood on the floor? Guess who opened the refrigerator for the first time in six months and was knocked off his feet by the aroma? Guess who had to clean that up, too, and wash the dishes from the last supper?
Come to think of it, I've written about that a number of times as well. Now granted, there are things I don't write about. Sometimes it's because there's not a whole lot to say about working in a state liquor store or on the night shift at a box factory, brain-numbing jobs like that. Pretty boring even to me. Sometimes it's because it's personal stuff that might be hurtful to someone. There's enough of that without me joining in.
Not much more to say on this subject except to thank Anonymous for making it possible to write a quick and easy blog. When you're fast approaching your 82nd birthday you need all the help you can get.

www.dickstodghill.com


1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know. Working in an Ohio State Liquor store seems sort of interesting to me. Being a life long Hoosier I have never understood Ohio's liquor laws. My grandmother who lived outside of Akron for forty+ years tried in vain to explain it to me.

I guess I was always happy with the beer and wine drive throughs which as you know are also forbidden in Indiana.

1:47 AM  

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