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Photo by Kobolt on Flickr.




My earliest memory is of me standing in a line with my mother, waiting to ride a Shetland pony at the Los Angeles County Fair in September, 1956, when I had just turned two years old. Since this is primarily a journal about memories – and my family – it seemed appropriate to name this blog after that recollection from the very dawn of my conscious mind.

Mother and Father died 22 and 27 years ago respectively, and I miss them every minute of every day. It's my hope that my writings here will help to preserve their memory – for me, for their relations and friends still living – and to offer others a personal, loving glimpse into the life and history of a 20th century American family.



The principal characters in this story are...

My Father:

Edward M. Shannon, Jr.
Born: Lenape, Kansas, 1915



My Mother:

Mary Lillian Fitzpatrick Shannon
Born: Copperfield, Utah, 1917



My mother's mother – my Nana:

Mary Elizabeth "Lily" McCluskey
Born: Workington, Cumberland, England, 1888



And Myself:

James Scott Shannon
Born: Covina, California, 1954



The biologist in his natural habitat, 2003: