Selected Short Stories of J. Edward Corley

The first four short stories are based on actual events that occurred in the life of the author when he was a boy growing up in the waterfront district of his hometown, Mobile, Alabama ."The Yellow Plum Tree" or (A Pocket Full of Scuppernongs) is a poignat story about an aging Greek emigrant and a young boy coming of age and learning about life, viewed from his favorite secret place, The Yellow Plum Tree. His neighborhood was made up of many emigrants and people from all walks of life....
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The first four short stories are based on actual events that occurred in the life of the author when he was a boy growing up in the waterfront district of his hometown, Mobile, Alabama ."The Yellow Plum Tree" or (A Pocket Full of Scuppernongs) is a poignat story about an aging Greek emigrant and a young boy coming of age and learning about life, viewed from his favorite secret place, The Yellow Plum Tree. His neighborhood was made up of many emigrants and people from all walks of life. "The Christmas Coat" tells of an old black man who works at a local ice plant and is mistreated by his racist employer. The boy, the author, feels compasion for the old black man and uses his windfall Christmas gift to buy a gift for the old man. "The Day the Champ Came to Town", actually happened to the author as a boy when Rocky Marciano came to Mobile Alabama promoting boxing. "The Hermit of Goat Island" is a true story about one of the hermits which resided on a small man made island located in Mobile Bay. "The Legend of "Railroad Bill" McCoy" is about the life of a real life black gunfighter who lived in Teaspoon, Florida (later known as Century Florida). His exploits, robbing railroads and helping poor blacks and whites in and around that area were legendary. The author learned of him through his Native American grandmother's story telling. He lived and died in the 1890's, and was a thorn in the side of local law enforcement and railroad detectives in the area. He was however, a Robin Hood to the poor people who didn't like the railroad at that time.