SCRIBBLINGS FROM STORAGE

A collection of letters, drawings, and other miscellanea of one man’s life in Texas.

Guittard, a retired attorney, has assembled this book from various “scribblings” from his past, including “writings, cartoons, clippings, photos, and other items,” which he shares with readers alongside present-day commentary. For instance, the book includes a written pledge for a group called the Battalion Unit Club, which the author hosted at his home in University Park, Texas, as a child: “Getting the members not to act silly during meetings in the mid-1950s was a major challenge for the president; hence, the inclusion in the pledge of a prohibition against silliness.” The club was called the Battalion Unit, it turns out, simply because of “a large wooden shield with the brass letters BU attached” hung on a wall. Other youthful reminisces include a phase of “lassoing things, including siblings and neighbors, that almost called out to be lassoed around the house and yard.” The author was later a student at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in the early 1960s, and much of the book covers his college career; he wrote letters home, particularly to his father, which resulted in a correspondence that could be both serious and sardonic; in 1964, for instance, his dad wrote, “I suppose it is rare for father and son to have as free an exchange about such matters as you and I have had”; the author follows this up by noting that, in the same letter, “Father provides cringe-producing specifics about necking, petting, handholding, and what he meant by ‘torrid sessions,’ from which the Reader will be spared.”

Later pages recount the author’s time as a lawyer and even his 37-day stint in the U.S. Army. The material throughout is often surprising and laugh-out-loud funny. For example, Guittard writes that while he was an undergraduate at Baylor, it was necessary for freshmen to protect the campus from Texas A&M students during homecoming weekend: “I can kill an Aggie and get away with it because all the authorities will be on my side.” The book also has more earnest words of wisdom, and when the author’s father writes, “All the theological works ever written will not make a Christian, just as all the books on golf ever written will not make a golfer. Faith and practice are both essential.” There is, however, rather too much material for readers to wade through in these pages, and one wishes that it were more curated. An article written in 1994 for the Newsletter of the State Bar of Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, for instance, may not engage a general audience: “Accordingly, without the widespread use of strategies for conflict management, the legal system is, from a systems analysis point of view, a system of conflict resolution.” Nevertheless, there are plenty of items to savor here. Drawings by illustrator Colborn show the author in various situations, including one of him wearing a T-shirt that displays his love of the game bridge.

An often hilarious, if somewhat overstuffed, work that never skimps on details.