Jim Puskas

Eastwind Jim Puskas

This is a true story or, more accurately, a collection of remembrances. All the characters in this narrative are real people, although some of the minor actors in the drama are composites drawn from several individuals, typical of the kind of people who lived in that place and time. It has been designated as a novel because some liberties have been taken with time frames, scale, or sequence of events for the sake of telling a coherent story and not just a series of vignettes. It is hoped that the reader will forgive those small transgressions. I also hope that the reader will find it possible to accept Louise, the protagonist, as she is-imperfect, damaged, troubled-and even try to forgive her actions. I do not claim that she was always well intentioned, but she is human. She has been much put upon. To the best of my knowledge, I have waited until almost all the persons in this story are no longer living before telling it, and all their names have been changed. I thereby hope to spare anyone embarrassment should they think they recognize some of the individuals.