The Left Handed Cannibal is the story of a common man who through uncommon desire and hard work made his dreams come true. From commando trailing in the Fijii Ilsands as a young man, to grafting mulberries on his Illinois farm during his middle years, to finishing his college degree at age 61, Myron Nixon lived an American success story that will never make the front pages but will endure because of its sincerity and warm simplicity.

The Left Handed Cannibal

The Life & Writings of Myron Stanley Nixon, 1919-2000By Joseph M. Nixon

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Joseph M. Nixon
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-2471-0

Contents

PREFACE..................................................................................viiDEDICATION...............................................................................ixACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................xiINTRODUCTION.............................................................................xiiiI. AT THE OPTOMETRIST....................................................................1II. A TERRIBLE COLD PLACE (1863-1951)....................................................7Coming to America........................................................................12III. WAR STORIES (1941-1945).............................................................20Subject: Origin of Fijii Islanders (College years 1973-1980).............................23Anthropology of the Fijii Islanders: Mar. 11, 1974.......................................24The Left Handed Cannibal (Written July 31, 1997; setting 1942-1943?).....................28IV. THIS LAND IS MY LAND (1949-1950).....................................................35V. WHY PLANT THAT TREE, GRANDMA? (1950-1963).............................................42The Mulberry Eating Contest..............................................................47Man: the Seed Eater......................................................................50Why Plant That Tree, Grandma? (August 1970)..............................................51The Slick Robin..........................................................................53VI. DISCOVERING AN AUDIENCE: INTA, NAFEX, & THE POMONA (1960-1973).......................54Good Fruit, No Sweat, No Spray...........................................................57Better Mulberries for Wildlife...........................................................59Mulberry Propagation.....................................................................61Black Walnuts............................................................................63Improving Black Walnuts..................................................................65VII. SCHOOL DAYS - AGAIN (ca. 1973-1980).................................................66The Speech (1972)........................................................................75A Friend of My Friend....................................................................78Anthropology. October 9, 1973 (Examination)..............................................79ANTH 231. November 5, 1973...............................................................82Anthropology 232. Nov. 6, 1974 (Examination).............................................86Anthropology. November 26, 1974, (Examination)...........................................88Anthropology. May 6, 1974, (Examination).................................................91Marketing 131-N. June 30, 1976 (Mr. Krause)..............................................93Anthropology. Book Report, Mar 11, 1974..................................................94Anthropology. Book Report, March 26, 1974................................................95HUMN 132. Semester Project...............................................................96Principles of Horticulture. October 4, 1976, Mr. Greenwood...............................100Correspondence. Ronald J. Glossop November 14, 1979......................................102Education................................................................................103VIII. TOO SOON WE ARE OLD (1980-2000)....................................................107Hedge (March 1998).......................................................................111The Cake (May 2, 1997)...................................................................114The Quick Change (April 15, 1997)........................................................115Reading the Alton Telegraph (July 26, 1997)..............................................116Thomas (January 1998)....................................................................117The Smart Cat............................................................................118IX. ALL GRANDPA! ALL THE TIME!...........................................................119Memorial Service: Myron Stanley Nixon (October 19, 2000).................................122Correspondence, October 19, 2000 (Granddaughter Gwen)....................................123Heritage Manor "Hall of Fame"............................................................124Requiem for A Legacy?....................................................................126X. REFERENCES CITED......................................................................130Index....................................................................................131

Chapter One

AT THE OPTOMETRIST

One of the more difficult problems in assembling this manuscript has been accounting for my Father's life from approximately 1948-1949. Being born near the end of 1946, those were the days of my earliest childhood memories, when my two or three year old mind was just recognizing the advantages I might gain by remembering things. I have tried to organize events chronologically, to put things reasonably one before the other, in an effort at reconstruction.

Much the way the Optometrist might ask "Which is better, A or B", I looked at specific events and asked: Which was first? This involved isolating the earliest events, identifying their consequences, and moving through time searching for connections between one identifiable event and the next. The result was to place things into a hopefully representative time order reflecting fairly distinct phases of Dad's life. Generally these included the ancestry that preceded him, his home days as a boy, the coming of WWII and his military service, his discharge and landing a government job, their (with Mom) coming into the ownership of land, acquisition and improvements to their own home, having and raising children their way, and finally his attendance at college.

I made the decision to use this approach fully understanding that its basis is in events determined by Dad himself. It recognizes that in the flow of actual life, these changes may have been unconscious to him. He did not, for example, decide one day to culture blackberries, waking up and announcing "Today I am going to grow blackberries". Rather, the various stages of his life developed through unintentional expressions of his own personal interests exercised through his freedom of choice, in this case, leading to blackberries.

Using this approach, this narrative begins with a look at the origins of the families of both Mother (Opal Faye Long of Alton, Illinois) and Father (Myron Stanley Nixon of Chesterfield, Illinois). Unfortunately, no one in the family knows much about their early lives until they met, apparently right after his discharge from the military. Neither of them ever spoke freely of their initial meeting, told any stories about going to a picnic, or a party, or any significant courtship event. Despite repeated attempts, my sister and I managed to garner only a very sketchy understanding of their early days together. As a result, nearly all the story of their courtship is lost.

Fortunately, at the nagging insistence of my sister and me, Dad undertook to record the story of his parents and grandparents, of their beginnings in Croule (Crewell, Crewelle, other spp.?), Lincolnshire, England, and their trek across a cold...