Your Daughter’s Journey

He lived with a box in a closet for five decades. A box he told them not to touch.

During those years their lives were consumed with the tragedies of death, mental illness, a house fire, the Great Depression, and war.

In this true story, Author Karin Wargel delves into the lifetime of the strong, talented genius who was the father of twelve children and her grandfather, Paul Schultetus. She discovers how they were able to carry on; by teaching the constellations from blankets in the yard on starry nights; by teaching a foreign language at breakfast; by having the rare library and radio in the neighborhood; and by making home-made ice cream in an old sorghum can. The family was still able to find much joy and happiness that was provided every day by hard-working, loving parents.

Karin also visited Germany and acquaints herself with the lives of her ancestors and the well-known historical events they surmounted. They fled France during the routing of the Huguenots. They lived under the scourge of Communism. Her greatest discovery was the genes they possessed and sent to America that affected the lives of their descendants.

What secrets does the mysterious box hold? Who finally has the strength to go against their beloved father and look inside this box after fifty years?

For half a century Bob Frakes pursued his “Forest Lookout Tower” hobby. All the time he collected papers, pictures, stories and friends. He was urged to put his memories down in a book and not let them be forgotten.

“Remembering Missouri’s Lookout Towers – A Place above the Trees” is finished.

It contains history. What preceded and created a need for the towers? It has stories. What is the goat doing on the top steps? It has technical information. What is the difference between an LS-40 and a MC-39? It has interviews. Those who worked the towers remember. It has submissions. Individuals who lived the life share their thoughts on themselves, what it was like and relatives. Others share their technical knowledge on fire finders, dispatch maps, the forest today, map projects, dozers, etc.

And of course, there are the pictures. The book contains over 300  images. Some are archival and one of a kind and many are in color. You can take a tower trip and never leave your living room.

You will also find tower names, towers moved, Bucksnort Foodstand, tower mysteries, Smokey Bear, the Royal Order of Squirrels, wood towers, steel towers, lookouts not towers, drone shots, and much more.

Missouri is often cited as the nation’s #1 conservation success story. Come examine this part of the story as to how it got that way.

Sharing his life story for the first time, renowned psychotherapist Dr. Darryl Wheat tells of his early years of trauma, parental abandonment, and being left to live with his grandmother. His defiance led him into numerous jails, detention houses and reform school. Young, brash and reckless, Darryl racked up over 40 arrests, 12 institutional escapes, and endless parole violations. He is seemingly destined for an early death, when miraculously, his loving grandmother intervenes. “Nanny” instills wisdom, which, at age 19, results in turning her grandson’s life completely around. Darryl then sets out to accomplish what people tell him is impossible. This is his unbelievable, yet true story.