Category: Clarence Williams

My grandfather and his brother

I never knew my maternal grandfather, Clarence Williams. He died when I was two or three years old.

But my mother didn’t really know her father as well as she ought to have, either. Apparently, my grandmother’s mother Lillian had a whole lot more control on her kids, even as adults, than she should have, and somehow essentially caused the breakup of Clarence with my grandmother Gertrude, though my mom knew her dad to some degree. My mother was primarily raised by Lillian, Gertrude and Gert’s siblings, my great uncle Ed and my great aunt Deana.

My sister was going through some photos and came across these:

Top row-4th from left is Clarence Williams
Seated on right end is his brother, Charles Williams

I had heard vague stories of my grandfather and his brother playing in the Negro Leagues, but I never got any sense of the time frame. And, as this article notes, there were LOTS of teams named the Giants.


Top row 2nd from Left is Clarence Williams
Top Row 4th from left is Charles Williams

This is Charles. He has a daughter, Barbara, who my mom has befriended only relatively recently.

If, by chance, someone knows more about these guys, I would love to hear about it.

ROG

ROG

Another Father’s Day

My maternal grandfather, Clarence Williams, played in the Negro Leagues in 1930s. I’ve never been able to track down any statistics or even exactly what team he played for, though my grandmother thought he played for some team called the Giants. There were several “Giants” teams in the day.

The person I knew as my paternal grandfather, McKinley Green, I’ve mentioned before in these pages. He was a janitor, auto racing connoisseur, and loved the horses. I’ve never found the person who was my real paternal grandfather. I’ve long had a very complicated relationship with my father, who died in 2000, and I’m still looking for information about him.

When I became a father in 2004, I had a great deal of optimism about the world. I still love being a father, but the world? I’m not so sure about it. I guess I wanted the world to be freer now than when she was conceived, and I’m not at all feeling that’s the case. I want it to be safer, and given tornadoes in unusual places, more violent hurricanes and the like, not so certain about that one.

There are are some men who just always wanted to be a dad, but I wasn’t one of them. I like being Lydia’s dad – I LOVE being Lydia’s dad – but we’re getting a lot of those “Are you going to have another?” questions. That’s nobody’s business, of course, but I suspect if we were to have another child, he or she would be adopted. In fact, in the period we were “trying to get pregnant”, we got a lot of literature on the topic. We’re not actively pursuing the issue now, but if we do, you’ll be the 100th to know.

I got a handmade card and a two peas in a pod thingy for Father’s Day. I do enjoy this part.

I’m watching the Tonys tonight, my annual opportunity to say, “So THAT’S what (name of actor better known for TV or movies) has been doing lately. I thought maybe he was retired. Or dead.” I expect this person will watch; since Whoopi Goldberg is hosting, I’d bet money that this guy won’t be tuning in.
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Evanier has on his page this Fiddler on the Roof/Avenue Q mashup. I LOVE Fiddler and plan to see Avenue Q this fall.
ROG

ROG
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