Herb Brinks

Louie's 1939 Ford with its teardrop design and V-8 engine really kicked gravel. But everyone knew that Louie had earned his nickname "Speed" from roller skating, not from his fast car. At fifteen and a year short of his Illinois…

When Papa's widow, Della Kley, died in 1966, her estate's inventory resembled a Salvation Army Store--cheap stuffed furniture not worth recovering, kitchen appliances long outdated and chipped remnants of a Sears Roebuck dinnerware set. Della saved Papa's Bible, a leather-bound…