Here is a revealing documentary of Daddy’s carefully thought and written reply to an interrogation from grandson Paul Moomaw, who was working on a school writing project.

Moomaw: Which person in history do you think of as most interesting or remarkable, and why?

Daddy: Napoleon Bonaparte. His military genius changed the map and history of Europe; it also affected the Americans. He showed supernatural, personal magnetism and leadership by taking command of soldiers sent to arrest him, after escaping from the island of Elba. As ruler of France he showed rare statesmanship and initiated a number of progressive changes. The metric system, which we are now about to make our standard of measurement, was adopted in France during his regime.

Moomaw: Tell about an historical event during your lifetime that had the most significant effect on your life.

Daddy: The Great Depression of the 1930s. It wiped out our possessions and created a warped attitude from which it took years to recover.

Moomaw: Tell about your childhood education.

Daddy: I started school, age five, in a small town in Nebraska. First teacher was wife of a veteran of a Northern army in the Civil War. During this first year we had almost daily exercises by marching around the room behind some pupil carrying a large flag and all singing “Marching Thru Georgia.” Early subjects were probably about the same as now. Discipline was quite strict, no one was allowed to leave their seats or whisper without permission.

Morning exercises nearly always consisted of group singing. There was one teacher to two grades of about 15 pupils to grade. School had a large bell rung by the janitor which could be heard in all parts of town. Pupils all walked to school except some were occasionally brought in a horse-drawn vehicle.

Moomaw: In our present-day society, what problem causes you the most concern?

Daddy: The apparent lack of knowledge among so many of our people—especially the young—as to how our government and system of individual enterprise functions; this furnishing a fertile field for demogogues who place personal gain above general welfare.

Moomaw: To what do you attribute your longevity?

Daddy: By taking proper care of the sound healthy body and mind given to me by my parents. By keeping the stream of life and always looking for a rainbow.

Moomaw: If you could re-live your life what changes would you make, if any?

Daddy: In several years after finishing high school, I would have been less haughty and more considerate; during that same period I would have given much of the time I wasted to the pursuit of arts and music.