Articles by Ray Adler

We often say at the office, “you can’t make these things up.” Life is stranger than fiction, as any lawyer can tell you. Many years ago, and in a different…

Great Grandpa Baltzell, my father’s maternal grandfather, was a family icon. He was born on December 20, 1856, and died on February 13, 1956. He was President of the Indiana…

It was a rainy Sunday in 1914 and only a few persons were present for the morning worship at the Sterling Christian Church where Grandpa preached. (Sterling was on the…

Grandpa Howard told the story of when James A. Mount was a candidate for Governor. He had concluded a campaign speech with the following anecdote: “John had two sweethearts, living…

Grandpa told me there are many incidents in life that show the consequences of indecision, or halfhearted endeavor. And deferred attempts sometimes proved futile. He always had a short story…

“The tramp was an ill-kept, teenage youth who came to our door and hesitatingly asked Mother for something to eat,” Grandpa Howard began. It was another one of his many…

Grandpa Howard related this story of picking corn by hand. Before mechanical corn pickers were in use, corn was shucked by hand. Seventy-five or 80 bushels was considered a fair…

A crutch is a staff with a top cross piece for the use of a cripple; a prop, or support to aid persons who are unable to walk without assistance….

Grandpa Howard told me of the anonymous phone call he received one day announcing a couple from a distance coming to be married at 10 a.m. the next day. Since…