Although a few of the stories are inspired by real-life characters and events, this work is mostly fiction and no real names have been used. The sole nonfiction story is called Carefree Roses for her Funeral. The story speaks of my brief stay on Harlem’s Sugar Hill where, following a downturn in my personal fortunes I’d gone to live with a brother. The brief stay turned into a period of six years. While there, I was privileged to witness the gradual gentrification of the area and the loss of what some would then and now term a piece of the area’s heart and soul. It is a story told from my bench view of a fir tree surrounded by carefree roses. Donnelly Square Park is one of the area’s smallest parks. One block west of the larger Jackie Robinson Park, it is located at the crossroads of 150th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue. It is known by the locals as the little park and the dirty park. I have dedicated the poem Ode to a Tree to my father and to my sister who was a published poet.
All of the other stories are just for fun. I had a great time writing them and these are eight stories from what has now become a two-volume work. So enjoy this first publication and look forward to the next. Read, laugh, and think.
Maurice P. Fortune