Bullock to hold book signing

July 04--Local author Don Bullock is ready to release his next book.

Bullock will hold a book signing for his newest book, "Buzzard Tale and Lakewood Rats," on Thursday, July 6 at Charlie Bullock's art studio location at 102 Larkin St. in downtown Athens.

The signing will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Copies of the book will be available, while refreshments will be served.

Don extended an open invitation to the event, asking readers to come meet him, his wife, Shirley and family, Donna and Charlie.

Don's writings regularly appear in the Greater Athens Magazine. His work was previously published quarterly in the HC Magazine.

Below is a chapter from his latest book. This chapter is titled "Prince."

"Prince Winton and I met in grade school, and were friends all the way through high school. Prince made all As without studying.

And then there was me, at the bottom of the class. With his straight A's he was accepted into SMU on a scholarship. I didn't know which way to go.

With the Korean War on the horizon, Prince joined the Air Force and became a bomber pilot.

I joined the Texas National Guard. On leave, Prince met a Hockaday debutant, named Rosemary. When he got out of the Air Force they got married.

The wedding was in Alpine, Texas where her father owned a 23,000-acre ranch. Rosemary and her dad hoped Prince would like ranching. Her dad built them a "honeymoon" cottage on the property. But ranching was not for Prince.

He started going to Odessa, dabbling in the oil business. He spent most of Rosemary's endowment on dry holes. Then he ran off, leaving Rosemary with two baby girls.

He headed home to Dallas and went to work for his dad in the insurance business. There he met and married a blond Swedish Neiman-Marcus model. That lasted two years. Gretchen had enough of his crazy schemes, one of which was investing in a silver mine in New Mexico.

She took their twin daughters and moved back to Sweden. After his dad died, Prince unloaded the business, salvaged what he could, and took off for San Francisco.

He decided the import business was the place for him. He made a trip to Japan and made some contacts. He started the business and the money started coming in. Just one problem though: he didn't pay any import taxes. The Feds caught up with him, and he went to the US Federal Penitentiary. When he got out, it was the seventies, and being in San Francisco he became a Flower Child.

One time he marched down the street naked, high on LSD, with a Bible in his hand. The police picked him up and sentenced him to rehab. In the summer of 1980, Shirley and I were living at Moonshine Creek, a subdivision I developed about five miles out of Athens. One day, Prince called. He was in town and said he would love to see me. I didn't know what to expect after all the tales I'd heard. I didn't want him coming to the house; I was afraid he might just move in.

I suggested we meet at the Caballero Club in the Spanish Trace Motel. When I saw him, I hardly recognized him. He looked wild. He was tall and thin and had a gray beard, a bald crown and a braided ponytail.

He was in shorts and flip flops, and had a deep tan. He was grinning from ear to ear, he was so happy to see me. Shirley had never met Prince but had heard plenty about him.

We settled into a booth, and Shirley and I ordered a beer. Prince ordered water. We sat around and visited about old times for about an hour, and every 20 minutes or so Prince would excuse himself and go to the men's room. Finally, the pitch came. Prince took a little leather pouch out of his pocket, opened it and out came a gold bar.

I said, "What is it? It looks like gold." "It is, but we made it! A metallurgist and I made it! We' ye developed an alloy with which we can make gold for pennies on the dollar. I'm here to let you in." "What do you mean?" "I'm willing to sell you 10 percent for $10,000 of startup money. In no time we'll be millionaires!" I thanked him, but told him real estate was in a slump, and I just didn't have the money. "How about 5 percent for $5,000?" I shook my head and told him no thanks. He got up, and excused himself to go to the men's room again. Shirley and I waited a long time for him to come back. Finally, I got up and checked the men's room. He wasn't there.

We didn't see him again until a few years later. Our daughter, Donna, was in a musical called "Me and My Girl" at Fairpark Auditorium. Shirley and I were driving down Elm Street in downtown Dallas on the way to the show. I looked out the side window and there was Prince, riding a bicycle. He turned left on Ackard.

I was committed to going straight, but took a left at the next intersection, then turned left on Main Street, looking for him with no luck. That's the last time I saw him.

Prince, if you're out there, call me."

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