THE 'GOOFY' LETTERS...

Mr. TOM TIERNEY and grandchild

In November 1965, my family moved into a new neighbour-

hood - new to us, that is.  I can no longer state with any certainty

whether it was on the first or subsequent evening that my brother

and myself met the other local kids, but I do remember one of them

introducing the group to us.  "Hi, I'm Tony and this is my brother

Kenny," said one of them.  Tony was TONY TIERNEY, and it

should come as no surprise to you to learn that his wee brother

shared the same surname.  (This was the '60s remember,

when kids tended to have the same parents.)

There were others there too, to whom Tony introduced us

in turn, but I no longer recollect the precise roll call.  Probably

ROBERT FORTUNE and GRAHAM BROWN, plus perhaps

GUS MARTIN or KENNY MacCLEOD, but I do seem to recall

there being around four or five in total.  I ran into Gus in Glasgow

a few weeks back, and Kenny called in today to deliver the pics

you see in this post.  Which brings me to the point.

Kenny's father, TOM, who I always called Mr. Tierney,
was a regular letter writer to the local newspaper (and others).

He wrote under the non de plume of 'GOOFY' and his missives

offered an often whimsical view of life in general and opinions on

issues relating specifically to things happening within the town.  He

enjoyed a certain amount of celebrity status among a loyal group of
readers, whose daily lives were cheered by exposure to his latest

thoughts, theories and fancies.  If he were alive today, he'd

most likely have a blog of his own.

I mentioned him on another post a few years ago, and

Kenny was much touched by the fact, and, I believe, derived

a certain pleasure from seeing his father's literary contributions

receiving public recognition, even on such a lowly outlet like this

blog.  I asked him to provide a photograph of his ol' dad so that I

could add it to that other post (which I have), but I thought I'd

do one specifically on Mr. Tierney, as he was such a fixture

of the neighbourhood for so many years.

I have extremely fond memories of living  in that neighbour-
hood - nearly seven years of the most formative ones of my

life.  Most of the friends I know today, I first met way back then,

and it's been a source of some surprise to me me over the years to

learn just how many of them thought I still lived there many years

after having moved away, so strongly did they associate me with

the place.  Of course, the fact that I was often back in the area

probably helped cement that idea in their minds.

There are quite a few folk who remind me of the area,

but none moreso, I guess, than Mr. Tierney.  No doubt he's

putting about on his little scooter in a finer place than this one,

mentally composing his next letter to The Heavenly Times.

And I'll bet they're enjoyed up there every bit as much as they
were down here.  In fact, he's probably been made editor by
now.  So here's to 'Goofy' - he may be gone, but he'll
definitely never be forgotten.

Posted in: Cartoons