Soldier's Son

10. The One Who Called Me Bolo

10 THE DUE UIHO CDLLED IflE BOLD Masontown, Pennsylvania I remember Uncle Tom as the quintessential performer, not just at the cabin, but in public. Once when I wasa youngster offiveor six, I went to seeUncle Tom and his fellow Rotarians put on a minstrel show for charity at the Liberty Theater uptown. Before the show, someone took me down into the dressing room under the stage. I'm sure my eyeswere as wide as saucers when I entered the narrow room with its bank of bright lights above mirrors that ran along the entire wall. Men were seated {31} { 132 } THE ONE WHO CALLED ME BOLO in front of the mirrors at a long counter that was filled with jars of cold cream, boxes of facial tissue, ashtrays, soda bottles, drinking glasses, and tubes of greasepaint. Everybody was in high spirits, filling that little room with a constant buzz of chatter and laughter. Some men had pushed back from the counter and were puffing cigarettes and sipping drinks. When Uncle Tom hailed me, the men greeted me with cheers and handshakes, as if I were visiting royalty. They were wearing tuxedo pants and shirts. Some hadn't yet put on their bowties, and their suspenders hung loose. Allof them had paper towels stuffed in around their collars, since they were putting black greasepaint on their faces. Someone teased me and held out a gob on his fingers, saying that I needed some to take the shine off the end of my nose. When the curtain went up, I wassitting on the front row. Since all of the men had black faces and wigs and were standing and singing, I couldn't pick out Uncle Tom until they sat down in a row of chairs and began talking. Even though they were speaking in an exaggerated Negro dialect, I recognized Uncle Tom's voice. He was sitting in the center seat and doing most of the talking , with everybody addressing him. Someone called him Mr.Interlocutor. He started the jokesby asking the THE ONE WHO CALLED ME BOLO { 133} other men questions. I didn't understand all of the jokes, but everybody else did. The men on stage laughed, slapped their knees, and elbowed one another. The people in the audience laughed, screamed, and clapped. What I liked about the show was the singing. I don't know if I had ever heard a tenor voice before, but I marveled at the sweet, high, clear sound of Cousin Bruce Sterling singing an Al Jolson tune. My favorite time of the night, however,waswhen my friend Tommy Pento's brother, Bob, sang "OF Man River."When Bob's second bass voice slowed and dropped down to the lowest notes on "ja-il," I got cold chills. Although I didn't understand the song's historical context at the time, I recognized the mournful delivery of a very sad, weary man's story. When Bobfinishedthe last note,the theater was absolutely silent and I held my breath for a second until the place erupted with cheers and whistles. Beneath all his bravado, UncleTom knewhis shareof sadness. Thomas Hoover Wright was born a couple of months prematurely, on May 4,1909, in Ronco, Pennsylvania . His birth followed by two years the birth of Daniel Wright, who had died after only two days. Named after Pop's best friend and his bus-line business { 134 } THE ONE WHO CALLED ME BOLO partner, Thomas A. Hoover, Uncle Tom had been a bit of a rascal as a youngster, got into his fair share of scrapes, and loved playing practical jokes. One summer day, so the story goes,Uncle Tom and his brothers were recoating the roof with tar, when a neighbor boy, Gerald Stillwell, and his parents came back from a family outing. Sporting a white linen suit, Gerald waved at Uncle Tom from across the street, whereupon Uncle Tom motioned for Gerald to climb up the ladder to the rooftop. While spreading tar with a mop, Uncle Tom engaged Gerald in casual conversation, deftly jerking the mop handle back quickly at the end of each stroke, imperceptibly flipping tiny drops of tar on Gerald's white suit. Bythe time Gerald realized what was happening , the suit was peppered with black specks from his feet to his waist. Uncle Tom owned a goodly portion of the Wrights' stubborn streak. Asa high schooler, he...