Heck Of A Guy

Truax Family Photo:¹ from left to right, Top: sons, Merrill & Richard; Bottom: Allan & Evelyn

From The Richard Truax Interviews

As I noted in Publishing Allan Truax - A Change In Strategy, Richard Truax, one of Allan Truax’s grandsons, graciously spent most of an evening in mid-July 2007 on the phone answering my questions about his grandfather, although he and his wife were preparing to celebrate their 45th wedding anniversary, and devoted another hour on 18 September 2007 to a second telephone interview with me.

Today’s post draws from those contacts and focuses on the relationship between grandfather and grandson, an important aspect because (1) Allan’s personality as well as Richard’s is reflected in this connection between them and (2) the relationship illuminates Richard’s perspective and his observations of his grandfather recorded in this and later posts.

The Relationship

The thread that runs though my conversations with Richard Truax² is his unabashed admiration of and respect for his grandfather, in whose company Richard preferentially spent much of his childhood, often following him as he gardened, ran errands, and performed his daily chores.

His cousin, Roger Truax, who, along with his wife, Rosalie, has been my primary family contact, describes Richard as being the closest to their grandfather, sharing several of his interests, such as gardening. He goes on to to add that Allan was often uncomfortable with children and grandchildren, while their grandmother, to whom he felt closest, was throughly engaged with family and others.

Richard especially admired his grandfather’s self-discipline and ability to structure his time productively. Allan would spend much of his time each day alone in a room that seemed to have no official name but served as his office, den, and library, where he would read³ and pursue his many projects.

With his grandfather’s example and admonitions to work hard and pursue an education, Richard began earning wages at age 13 with an eye toward saving money for future needs, including tuition. In fact, by taking on adult jobs, such as heavy construction, and routinely working 60 hours a week, he was able to leave Crosby at age 16 with his savings of $1800, a substantial sum at a time when a gallon of gas cost less than $0.20, most new cars could be purchased with less than that $1800 nest egg, and a typical house would set the homeowner back less than $20,000.

Ironically, Richard’s emulation of his grandfather’s example and his allegiance to his grandfather’s principles would themselves lead to a dramatic decrease in their time together. From early adolescence, Richard’s work hours ranked high in his priorities and occupied those hours that he had previously spent in the company of his grandfather. In fact, when Allan invited Richard to accompany him on his journey to visit the regions that of England that inspired Shakespeare and John Milton, Richard opted to turn down the offer rather than suspend his work for the trip.

That work ethic and determination have persisted as an embedded family trait and an ongoing legacy of Allan Truax.

Allan Truax in front his home in Crosby, North Dakota
where he and his grandson, Richard, spent much time together.

Coming Attractions: Future posts based on these interviews will include

• Homesteading in North Dakota
• Unexpected domestic relations in the Truax household
• Life in Crosby, North Dakota
• Allan Truax’s work as a railroad mail clerk
• The long-term project Allan Truax skillfully carried out with great success yet was known to no one until after his death

Allan Truax At Heck Of A Guy
An explanation of who Allan Truax is and why he is a feature of the Heck Of A Guy Blog can be found at Who’s Allan Truax?

Identification: Allan Truax, Allen Truax, and A.L. Truax
“Allan Truax” and “Allen Truax” appear with approximately equal frequency in the written material I’ve reviewed, with “A.L. Truax” occurring somewhat less often. The name Mr. Truax inscribed in his books was “Allan” so I use it preferentially

Other Heck Of A Guy Posts About Allan Truax

• The first Allan Truax Post was Allan Truax, A.E. Housman, The Ex, and Me
• The most recent Allan Truax Post before this entry was Publishing Allan Truax - A Change In Strategy
• All Allan Truax posts can be found by clicking on the Allan Truax category

Footnotes

1. This footnote began as a quasi-confession that the top photo is only associated with the other content of the post by the most tenuous and contorted connections. The interview, after all, is with Richard, the grandson (i.e., the son of the Richard pictured at the top right), who was, one presumes unborn, at the time of this family portrait and is, in any case, nowhere to be seen in the photo. And, it is true that the original impetus for using the photo for this blog was that I liked the way the family was pictured and appreciated its iconic quality, especially with the frame. The more I’ve studied the picture, however, the more convinced I am that it presents Allan as he is described by his grandsons in this post: unflinchingly straightforward, deliberate, responsible, and self-sufficient.↩
2. As it turns out, Richard Truax is, like me, a psychiatrist. This is one of those coincidences that somehow seems to call for recognition but is otherwise insignificant beyond the “how about that?” level.↩
3. This is, I assume, where he read the volume of Houseman’s poems that I later received as a gift and that was the link between his world and mine that led to my interest in him.↩

Show Social Bookmarks

Hide Sites