Harold.

This is my grandfather, Harold Parker. He was my dad's dad, whom I never got to meet. Look at this stunning photograph! I cant keep my eyes off it! So much style! So much verve! It makes me imagine a man with a lot of intention in his life. A man who invests his full energy into things. That's the kind of man my dad was.



Here's what my uncle Dick wrote about the picture:

"Hey, here's a photo Dad had taken at a St.Paul dance joint. I'm almost certain it was in the 1930s, maybe as early as 1934, when (by my calculations) he came to St. Paul to work for Swift at age 21. No, he did not hookup with gangsters -- respectable men all dressed that way. Dad told me in 1971 or spring 1972 that he was glad to have his own business and sorry he had worfed for the same company (Swift) for 28 years -- 1934, I reckon, until he left in 1962. By the 1970s he was ill with chronic leukemia but still running his insurance agency. He made that mention of his career as we were headed (in Mom's Mustang convertible) for a pizza place that had the best in the area. Dad was feeling pretty good that day. He died July 1, 1972."