On the Shelf: 'Lou's Dirty Dozen'
Lynn Bonney
Saturday, March 8, 2008
“Lou’s Dirty Dozen” by Ranny Crandall, O’Grady Publishing Co., $19.50 (trade paperback)
As the 21st century — which once seemed so far away — moves swiftly toward its second decade, living memory of vivid events is fading. A glance at any newspaper’s obituary page testifies that the numbers of those who served in World War II are dwindling.
In paying tribute to their service, their biographies often fail to recall that these are the children of the Great Depression. Their growing-up years were shaped by hard times and families’ struggles just to get by, to keep shoes on the children’s feet and food on the table.
Those children, and their children, are keeping the memories alive, preserving their families’ stories so personal history isn’t lost.
Ranny Grady, a Kansas native now transplanted to Kentucky, has recorded his family’s history in “Lou’s Dirty Dozen,” a series of episodes seen through the eyes of his mother, Jessie Crandall Grady. The “Lou” of the title is Lula Harrison Crandall, the mother of the “Dirty Dozen,” widowed in 1929 in the last days before the Depression.
Even before October 1929, life hadn’t been easy for the Crandall family. Calling Ranti Crandall the patriarch of the clan might be a bit too generous: An opinionated, stubborn man, he dominated the family and often clashed with his children, particularly with the older boys. He could be violent with the children, as well as with his wife, and there are disturbing references to one of the girls’ being his special favorite.
His marriage to Lou Harrison had been a matter of convenience, not of love. After the death of her alcoholic parents, Lou moved in with an aunt, who — unbeknownst to Lou — arranged for her niece to meet the considerably older man. The marriage that followed seems to have been held together by Lou Crandall’s determination and her deep faith.
That faith, the bedrock of her philosophy and child-rearing practice, was as complex as it was simple. Quoting Scripture and singing old, familiar hymns, Lou Crandall did all she could to keep the family together in their Tampa, Kan., home. Son Howard developed his talent as a runner, setting a state record in a big meet on the Kansas State Teachers College campus. Two of the Crandall girls gained a measure of fame for their singing talents, displayed on a Salina radio station’s talent show. One daughter gave birth to an out-of-wedlock child; another was raped by a prominent member of the community. Six of the children became teachers and two went on to be school superintendents.
Lou saw them through it, the good and the bad — supporting the family by writing for the hometown newspaper and “stringing” for the Topeka Journal. She worked as a cobbler, ran the movie theater popcorn concession and demonstrated her skills as perhaps the world’s kindest collection agent.
“Lou’s Dirty Dozen” is obviously written with love. It cries out for an editor, however, to aid in organization, transitions, grammar and spelling. But readers are likely to forgive those transgressions as they appreciate this story of a remarkable Kansas family and an unforgettable mother.
• Emporia Public Library staff and volunteers write “On the Shelf.”