Thumbs Out

Thumbs OutJim Poole grew up long ago on a mink farm in the small town of Sudbury, Massachusetts. During the Depression Jim went to school, watered mink and explored and enjoyed life pretty much on his own termsa time when parents were busy and neighborhood children played outside on their own. During WWII Jim took on more adult responsi_bilities as a young farmhand, help_ing his father and older sister feed and water mink on a neighbors mink ranch. Jims

Jim Poole grew up long ago on a mink farm in the small town of Sudbury, Massachusetts. During the Depression Jim went to school, watered mink and explored and enjoyed life pretty much on his own termsÑa time when parents were busy and neighborhood children played outside on their own. During WWII Jim took on more adult responsi_bilities as a young farmhand, help_ing his father and older sister feed and water mink on a neighborÕs mink ranch. JimÕs colorful "Thumbs Out" reminiscences begin well be_fore he headed off to first grade and play out through years in Sudbury schools, college at UVM in Vermont and U.S. Army service in Fort Rucker, Alabama. These stories, in_ter_spersed with 44 snapshots and other illus_trations, come to a close after JimÕs Army stint when he returned to the mink farm with his lovely pregnant wife and a protective dachshund puppy to welcome Dirk Daniel, their firstborn, into their lives almost before they had unpacked.