The Lincoln Highway National Museum & Archives 102 Old Lincoln Way West Galion, Ohio 44833 (419) 462-2212 Voice (419) 462-2214 Fax (419) 566-0790 Cell

Dear Friends,

Ok, so now with that settled,
it's off the races.

The other day when I was writing one of the intros for
"The Perfect Tribute"
I used the phrase,
"Hard to believe but, one thousand percent true."

At the time,
I showed it to a friend
to check for errors and she circled
the phrase as clichéish and perhaps unnecessary.

I smiled, leaned back in my chair and began
to tell her the story of little Frankie Goldsmith.

Even though he passed away years ago,
I can hear him say it just like it was yesterday.

"Hard to believe, but one thousand percent true."

OK, so now it's off to the races...

It's early 1980 and I've been beating my head
against the wall for two years now.
While things are moving along,
I went to visit a childhood friend
and classmate at Miami in Middletown.
At the time we were both avid readers
and enjoyed checking out old bookstores.

On this particular evening,
we stopped in to check out the latest selections.

Soon thereafter,
we both took notice
of a rather scruffy old man.

He had a long white beard that covered most of his face
and walked with a bent over shuffle.
His clothes were old and tattered
and his overcoat was tied together at the waist
with a ragged piece of manila rope.

We watched him as he made his way to the Bibles,
carefully made his selection from the many,
then checked the price.

You could see the disappointment in his eyes...

We looked at each other and said,
"Well that's that..thinking no man should knock at the door
in search of truth and go away empty handed."

Later that night,
my friend had a dream...

"Get into the Coin Business"

Strange, and yet we both knew
it was a "Gift" from the old man.

Warmest Regards,

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