One of Faulkner's most memorable characters bore the Chickasaw Indian name "Had-Two-Fathers." Sam Fathers, as he was known, was a 19th century hold-over from the ancient hunter-gatherer culture of his ancestors. He was also one of the few heroes in Faulkner's fiction, and by analogy with him some years ago I gave myself the Indian name "Had-Three-Fathers."
It all goes back to some choices my father made in the 1940s, for which I am deeply grateful.The first choice Daddy made was to marry my mother, a teacher with a degree from Sam Houston State. Her father had been a schoolteacher, and two of her three brothers earned college degrees and taught school (although one eventually gave it up in favor of a better-paying job with Dow Chemical in Freeport).
Daddy's second choice, which was more difficult, was to move in with Mother's father (a widower) and her oldest brother (a bachelor), and begin farming with them. It took constant vigilance for Daddy to maintain his self respect and independence as he and Mother raised five children in another man's house. But my four siblings and I benefitted greatly from growingup in an extended-family household.
Sitting at the head of the table was Granddaddy Jones, a retired teacher-turned-rancher who loved to read, talk about ideas, argue politics, and generally play the role of patriarch and village elder. Today I not only look like Grandaddy Jones; often I catch myself behaving like him—thinking out loud, arguing over trivia for the fun of it, turning up the volume on the TV.
My second father-figure was his oldest son, my Uncle Doug (who went to college but didn't stay). He personified warmth, generosity, and following your curiosity as far as your mind and your wallet allowed.
Uncle Doug subscribed to numerous magazines, bought us a telescope and took me on my first train ride (to the State Fair of Texas). In partnership with him, my brother and I bought one of the first TV sets in our community. I copied his wry sense of humor.
But it was Daddy whose influence runs deepest. He took us squirrel hunting and taught me to milk a cow, plow corn and pick cotton. Forced to supplement the farm income with a variety of highway construction jobs, he never let go of the land and always kept it in good condition.
My style of communicating with people came from him, but he told us early and often that there were better ways to earn a living than following his path. He and Mother encouraged all five of their children to earn college degrees and move away from the farm.
Eventually I recognized that like Sam Fathers a century earlier, my dad was a transitional figure. Caught between the old-fashioned agrarian society he grew up in and the new industrial age that became dominant after WWII, he kept alive the old values and transmitted them. Faulkner called them "the old verities and truths of the heart."
And so a couple of decades ago I chose to claim proudly a new name: "Jerry Had-Three-Fathers."
Because of health reasons, Dr. Lincecum has to take a break from writing columns for a while.
A retired English professor, Dr. Jerry Lincecum teaches classes for older adults who want to write their life stories. He welcomes your reminiscences on any topic: jlincecum@me.com