Philip Dampier's Blog

This short book contains five outdoor type stories which are a part of my past. They are as close to the truth as my memory will allow. The Last Hunt is my tribute to one of the greatest hunting dogs I ever knew. If you are a bird hunter you will enjoy this story of our last bird hunt together. It happened forty-two years ago and still brings tears to my eyes. The other stories cover squirrel hunting, fly fishing, fox hunting, and a lake bass outing. Five the Hardway details my frustration in trying to limit out on squirrels in the Illinois woods of the same time period. It was an exasperating time but looking back it was really funny. Hope you get a laugh from it too.

Chuck Weatherford is tired of killing for hire and missing his wife who couldn’t take it anymore. He is also missing his ten-year-old daughter who he sees between jobs. Problem is, the Big Boss (Max) doesn’t want him to quit and when Chuck does Max puts a price on his head. The only way Chuck can be free is to eliminate the killers sent to get him and find the mysterious Max. As the price on Chuck’s head rises so do the stakes. When Max threatens his family Chuck decides there is only one way to be free and that is to eliminate Max before Max eliminates him. Join Chuck and his family as they do battle with the guns-for-hire organization. Naturally, the police get involved and they are not sure which side they are hunting. Chuck doesn’t know who Max is or where Max is but he is determined to find him and end it all one way or another. Join Chuck as he travels back and forth across the US trying to stay one step ahead of the assassins and keep his family out of harm’s way.

A Faded Rose is set in rural Florida during the second world war. Two eighth-graders begin a journey of love that will grow until interrupted by Jim joining the Army not long before D-Day. Dawn is struggling with her own problems when Jim’s letters stop coming. No news from Jim or the Army causes stress among both families. The story follows Jim into combat and the result of a terrible counter-attack by the Germans as well as Dawn’s attempt to deal with the unknown. The couple is destined to meet again but under totally unexpected circumstances. Will love win out?

Why are there five wise men? Why not? What did Mary’s mother say when Mary gave her the news? Why did the wise men bring the heavy and burdensome gifts they brought? Where in the East did they come from? Why are they making the journey? What’s going on with Herod that he is so out of sorts? These and many more mysteries are discussed in this fictional account of a true story. The story is just like the one in the Bible as far as that story goes. Now we may have an idea of what else took place. Don’t miss the journey of the wise men nor the problems confronting Mary and Joseph. Perhaps you’ll have a new idea about what happened behind the scenes.

A fictional account of crisscrossing the USA by thumb twice around. Based on a real happening the story is mostly made up or highly exaggerated. This is a short and quick read that is very entertaining.