Paul Alexander Casper

Beyond Paris


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      Beyond

      Paris

      A young man sets off to work in Paris but goes beyond to discover the world, finding the man he would become along the way.

      Copyright © 2019 by Paul Casper

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the written permission of the publisher, except in the brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and in certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests write the publisher.

      ISBN 978-1-49-990552-6 (Paperback Book)

      ISBN 978-1-49-990632 (Hardcover Book)

      ISBN 978-1-49-990553-3 (eBook)

      Library of Congress Control Number 2019008752

      Classification: LCC G226.C37 A3 2019 | DDC 910.4--dc23 LC

      Book Design by Jane Dixon-Smith & Paul Casper

      Front Cover Photography by Joyce Casper

      First eBook Edition 2019

      INFINITY PUBLISHING

      1094 New DeHaven Street, Suite 100

      West Conshohocken, PA 19428-2713

      Toll-free (877) BUY BOOK

      Local Phone (610) 941-9999

      Fax (610) 941-9959

      [email protected]

      www.buybooksontheweb.com

      The information in this book is true and as complete as possible after fifty years to the best of our knowledge. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the following pages.

      www.BeyondParis.info

      An Adventure Travel Memoir By

      Paul Alexander Casper

      For my mother, Inez,

      my beautiful wife, Kathy,

      my sons Nicholas & Christopher

      and

      for all the other

      Road Knights

      around the world

      Is the end

      of one journey

      just the beginning

      of another?

      Author’s Note

      This book is a memoir.

      It reflects my present recollection of the experiences I had in 1970.

      Every adventure in this book is true.

      Every conversation is my best memory after almost fifty years.

      I have changed the names of some people in this book

      after not being able to locate them around the world.

      I have compressed, contracted and subtly rearranged

      time and events in several instances.

      Otherwise,

      this book is a true account

      of my experiences as I remember them.

      Foreword

      Things to remember about 1970…

       The cost of a gallon of gas was $.36

       A pair of men’s leather shoes cost $6.97

       Richard Nixon was President

       The average house price was $4,975

       The cost of a postage stamp was $.06

       The Dow Jones was 631 in 1970. In January 2018, it broke 26,000

       The 1970 Song of the Year was “Bridge Over Troubled Water,”by Simon & Garfunkel

       The most popular 1970 TV Comedy was All in the Family

       The top college football team was the Nebraska Cornhuskers

       The number-one fiction bestseller was Love Story by Eric Segal

       The median household income was $8,734/yr

       MLB’s MVP was Johnny Bench of the Cincinnati Reds

       A cyclone in Bangladesh killed 500,000 people

       1970 popular films: Catch 22, Patton and Hello Dolly

       The minimum wage was $2.10/hr

       Average monthly rent was $140.00

       The Isle of Wight concert in August in Englanddrew 600,000 attendees

      Preface

      After pledging Theta Chi Fraternity at Drake University and then,

      of course, not making grades,

      I was put on academic probation in 1965,

      my freshman year.

      The threat of dismissal inspired a dramatic comeback, however,

      and I graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree—

      on time and on the Dean’s List.

      Immediately I was hired by an internationally known Chicago graphic design

      firm, after competing against almost a hundred other applicants.

      A year later, I felt I knew everything there was to know about life.

      The obvious next step, it was clear to me, was

      to quit my job and get a one-way ticket to Paris,

      where I would work on the Champs Elysées as an art director

      and chase French women.

      Although a soft wind had brought a misty rain

      a little earlier in the day,

      the grass was almost totally dry now.

      Everyone’s skin was warm and sticky again on this predictably hot Cincinnati July summer night.

      And as usual,

      fireworks were in the air.

      1.

      Escape

      10:30 PM, July 3, 1959

      Carl handed me another bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon beer while I rummaged around on the coffee table for a cigarette. “Dream Lover” by Bobby Darin started to play in the background as lights of a passing car skipped past the basement window. Earlier in the evening, we had been talking about the usual things: the Reds, girls, life and the fact that grade school was finally almost over for both of us. Carl’s parents were out for the night, and we had recently just finished listening to the end of the Phillies vs. Reds game, which the Reds won 6-1. It didn’t look like it was going to be a very good year for the 1959 Reds, but the games were always interesting, especially when you had an outfield consisting of Frank Robinson, Jerry Lynch, and Vada Pinson. Even though he was new to the Reds, my favorite player was Leo Cardenas at shortstop. Like him, I had the hands to grab any ground ball close to where I was. Now if both he and I could just learn how to pull the ball at the plate, we both might