In The Shade of The Oaks

In the movies, it seems as if it is hard work pushing the plow. The horse pulls the plow, all the plow-hand has to do is keep the plow upright and guide it. He can think and dream. As a 15-year-old boy, I plowed and dreamed of becoming wealthy and owning a big ranch. I worked, earned a living but never became wealthy. After retiring, I decided to write this book, put a 15-year-old boy behind a plow, find a way to make him wealthy, and thus accomplish my dreams and much more.

Robert A. Durant was born in 1936, number eight in a family of nine children. He saw the first of four older brothers leave for WWII in 1941. His dad was a share-crop farmer. Robert learned to plow at the age of 12. He worked as an Ad Composer in newspapers for 17 years. In 1974, he went to work for a chemical plant in Lufkin, Texas, producing Formaldehyde and Industrial resins. He retired in 1999 as a Lead Operator Technician. It was after he retired that he wrote In the Shade of the Oaks. He still loves to work in his garden, spend time with his wife of 60 years, and their four children and grandchildren.