May 22, 2023

A Dedication

Welcome to my blog. One day, I might give it a fancy name. Suggestions are welcome. But for
the moment – after a fever of creativity resulting in visions – I am calling it Hugh’s Blog.

My first novel, "Fadeaway Joe," comes out in August. Once the contract was signed and I was working toward publication, the question of a dedication page came up. Who should I dedicate this to?

I settled on my dad, David Lessig, better known as Davey. He wasn’t a professional writer or editor. He was a truck driver, the eighth of nine children who served in the U.S. Marines during World War II. I credit my dad and his little brother, Emrys, with spurring my interest in stories.

We lived in eastern Pennsylvania near the New Jersey border. It was a long day trip to New York City in an eighteen-wheeler, but it was doable. My Uncle Emrys was also a truck driver, and sometimes he and my dad would sit around the dinner table and tell stories of the road.

You see odd thing on the road: bizarre accidents, near misses, people getting upset, good
Samaritans helping others. Dad told those stories with detail and clarity. When he passed away
in 2003, I came across some of the letters he wrote to my mom during World War II. It turns
out he was a decent writer, too. And very much in love with my mom.

Maybe that adventure will make it into a story one day.