Interesting Individuals: Fictitious Characters

By Kurt Ronson

We all know of each other, better than others know of ourselves, and what we don’t want others to know of ourselves we know better than what others know. This book describes people. These people are fictitious, but their traits are real. The following undertakes to assign attributes to these imaginary individuals. You may identify with these individuals or not and learn about them or yourself. It is a testimony that upon these descriptions one can understand, learn from and find enchantment as a reader and if lucky we can come to appreciate ourselves and others. Remember, it is often what we do that determines what we are. Some of the following passages are a rehash of the original. Be patient, not only with this book, but with life’s responsibilities. Patience is a prodigious personality trait.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 6, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664166547

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Copyright © 2022 by Kurt Ronson.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/26/2022

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Contents

Editor’s Note

James Wright

William Forster

John Gatheron

Lytprysam Ymuvksf

Cheryl Upton

Mike Ross

Seth Warren

Gustavo Lopez

Westley Tiddle

Karen Tanil

Ian Leszner

Lester Voight

Amy Fontman

Daniel Jarrud

Mick Bandon

Mr. R

Elizabeth Johnson

Shalam Horowitz

George Tannon

Steve Laskow

Jim Flirod

Laura Hunt

Ann Tredwig

Miles Cliford

Sue Laskow

John Beltin

Ernie Jones

Rekom Mabil

Hugh Cravit

Leo Tyeinwicz

Lisa Drone

George Fadlin

Ben Weston

Phil Abrey

Gina Morley

Arthur Easton

Professor Andrews

Jimmy and Johnny

Mike Warner

Gloria Prism

Kyle Foam

Earl Borden

Peter Estewel

Gary Udall

Carson Willet

Don Light

Lindsey Collins

Chad Wilson

Less Minor

Bruno Moran

Grandpa Smith

Benjamin Washington

Charlie Proud

Eddie Gortham

Eddie continued…

Johnny Evers

Roxanne Rosemary Hall

Ben Johnson

Mr. A

Stewart Droight

Brad Valentine

Jeffrey Hilt

Gail Robbins

Alan Roche

Tony Madit

Roger Arafan

Maury Carlton

Betty Borkue

The Man Called King

Cecil Praum

Paul Kreskow

Mark Faltrow

Lewis Graham

Orocles

Tiberius Hall

Karl Gold

Farmer Jones

Ken Droight

James Washington

Don Mentner

Kurt Raffon

Dr. Arthur Compton

Carl Springsteen

Ben Kluff

Ned Kozlowski

Ken Johnson

Ren Lawson

Seth Jensen

Ernie Thurman

Robert Morrow

Editor’s Note by the author’s brother.

Kurt, my older brother, was a talented and prolific author. Unfortunately, Kurt was plagued by mental illness and ended his life in suicide before the present work was edited. Therefore, I have attempted to honor Kurt by editing the text myself. In most cases, the edits I made were grammatical. In others, I tried to correct certain ambiguities. Kurt had a particular style, which I tried at all costs not to alter. However, some occasions necessitated the rewriting of a clause in order to minimize any ambiguities in the text.

I should also like to note that many of the vignettes in this book contain some degree of an autobiographical flavor.

James Wright

James, referred to as Jim, is from a fairly large city in New York with a suburban periphery. The city contains several secondary institutions of learning, including Madison High, named after the fourth president, from which Jim graduated. Jim, now 19, had the opportunity to attend a university but after applying to a state institution, decided to forgo that option. Instead, Jim joined the military and was, after fairing well in physical training, stationed in Cuba. He was active every day in the field, recording receipts in place of supplies and logistics.

Jim smoked, as did the majority of his battalion. Tobacco products were hence inexpensive, as there was a plenteous market in Cuba. Most of the battalion’s active force had accrued money in regard of provisions, none of which were advenient nor covered by the army itself. As a money-making venture, he hoarded some supplies, such as cigarettes, alcohol, and marijuana, and accrued a lot of money.

On an average day he would requisition munitions, such as M-60s, laws, and food, which were flown in on supplying missions. The army’s involvement in Cuba meant that law and order were maintained, and the army base’s presence reduced any potential insurrection or resistance. The army cooperated with the Cuban militia and the local police force.

The Cuban population, for the most part, welcomed the army presence and even communicated with the soldiers. Prostitution was widespread in the state, as many soldiers engaged in this illicit, yet accepted, activity. Cuban women were, on the whole, good-looking, and were enchanted with these virile, manly men. In the numerous bars most imbibed a variety of potables. On weekends especially, these venues were active, and many bordellos were also open for business. Jim visited these venues and was a well-known patron.

Jim was tall, not too tall, had a medium build, and dark hair. He had brown eyes and was mesocephalic. Jim lifted weights as a youth but wasn’t too muscular. He could bench press over four hundred pounds and could curl upwards of one hundred seventy. In high school his friends alluded to him as Slim. He had a girlfriend; her name was Judy. She was one of the prettiest girls, was a cheerleader, and very popular.

Jim played a lot of sports and lettered in baseball, football, and gymnastics. His family was small, well off, and respected in their community. They lived outside the city in a town named Felmore, an upper-middle-class area that was almost all white racially. Jim could maneuver on a skateboard, probably better than the guys raised on them in California.

Jim’s old man worked at a company that sold microprocessors to major computer companies. His name was Ben and his function was in bidding for contracts. Jim’s mom was authoritarian yet loving, and she made her family quite sapid meals. Jim’s younger sister was pretty and studied at the local junior high school.

In Felmore every year was a carnival. Jim’s cousin worked some of the games while Jim was in high school. Jim’s cousin Billy hired him to work one summer, as the carnival relocated from town to town. Jim worked the milk bottle game, in which one would win if he toppled three milk bottles with one softball. He and his uncle would call in the players, which netted them more money than allowing the customers to play at their own volition.

Jim especially liked the girls who frequented the transient amusements. He became friendly with the other carnies, as well as the guys who worked the rides. Salt water taffy was made by a family that did well in pulling and packaging the popular commodity. The aroma from the proximal stand was piquant and sugary, as a machine did all the actual packaging. After a player was to win, a stuffed animal was handed over and the two of them called out, That’s another winner, as volume determined the money collected.

Jim had some good qualities. He was hard working, honest, ambitious, and good. He had many friends from school and was to acquire more, as he was a winner. He’d get high with some of them, although not frequently, and went to a neighborhood bar on weekends. He’d bring home girls to have sex and every weekend it was with a different girl.

Jim liked to cogitate on philosophy, as he had his particular epistemology as a novice and had some bright ideas. One idea was that experience conduced to a mean disposition. It made sense that experience was necessary for survival, that it was part of our anthropogeny. We had to outsmart our neighbor, which meant we had a selfish disposition. Also, experience was necessary for knowing oneself. If we had only limited knowledge we had neither the capacity nor the opportunity to reason, and reason was what set us apart from the lower beings.

Jim liked to work on cars, as his father owned a car lot and had to fix the automobiles in order to make a profit. Jim’s father had an old Chevy that Jim acquired for a couple of hundred dollars. After gapping some spark plugs and replacing the master cylinder, the car ran like a top. Before Jim entered the service he had repaired several old automobiles and sold them for a profit.

Jim liked evenings in and around his home base. It wasn’t as windy then and quite peaceful. He and his family would gather around the front porch, drinking iced tea and entertaining one another. Neighbors were friendly and there was absolutely no crime, as the community was well-to-do and upheld law and order. In fact, there was a police officer’s family a few doors down, and the neighbors made sure there was peace and propriety.

In high school Jim was popular in the sports scene, and the local paper mentioned his name in conjunction with every baseball and football gave. There were dances at the high school and Jim, along with one of the girls’ best dancers, be offered a spot on American Bandstand. The school was to provide the travel expenses, the overnight stay and the proper clothes. After rehearsal, Jim and the girl, who was named Crystal, were featured to do the slow dance, which occurred between the more involved dances, which were to be performed by other couples.

Just before joining the service Jim married a girl whom he dated for a few months. She became pregnant and after the child was born, she worked at a clothing store for just more than minimum wage. Jim, making extra money from selling supplies, sent these earnings, along with his monthly paycheck, to support his family.

Jim was in Cuba for four months before he witnessed any casualties. One of the logistics crew was hit by a drive-by rebel. The battalion erred on the side of caution when dealing with these peculiar circumstances. The recruits were on the side of the infidels in their campaign to restructure their society democratically. Anyone considered an insurrectionist was imprisoned, as the new regime maintained only one party in delivering the people any politically-implemented freedoms.

Jim got on the air a company nearby with a makeshift hospital, a M.A.S.H. The victim of the shooting was conscious but in shock. His right arm was bleeding profusely

and he was also wounded in the neck area. Jim was intrinsically benevolent. An altruistic individual, he volunteered as a soldier in order to benefit the human plight. Jim believed that man was doing the best he could and it was human nature to tend to selfishness. The world was starving and the wealthy had a responsibility to ensure the contingent benefits to all extant on the planet.

Soldiers were mostly benefic and loved the women in society and were willing to fight for them. Each day that ended, the most vulnerable counted their blessings. Cuba was inhabited by decent, self-sacrificing, charitable people. They were like a lot of oppressed persons who were restricted to senseless automatons. Power corrupts and those in power had no scruples when consigning a segment of society to suffer their effects. So Jim felt compelled to made a difference.

Jim set up a committee to allocate political possibilities in improving and renovating the current state of affairs. This was undertaken by modifying the input of control with the prospect of reducing this control in delimiting society’s dependence on this social system. By kick-starting this process, the average artisan, proprietor, and shopkeeper was morally guaranteed to control their own best interests in serving society.

With this novel structure the autocrats had less force, as those acting on orders by enforcing the law were involved in counteracting the U.S. presence. Commodities, like sugar cane and bananas, were wrested from the grip of tyrants, and private companies hired more workers to do the same amount of work but remunerated its workers with higher wages.

This democratization would require change from the grassroots all the way to those in charge. It would ensure the state parameters in respect to defending the status quo from any repressive developments, such as expropriation of a profit from small businesses and prosperity from state control. The new regime, if successful, would free the market and those businesses could benefit the economy by promoting exchange in any transaction of goods and services. The per capita would prosper, as more monies were up for grabs.

Jim was honored with encomia, and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. His family was impressed and Jim, after receiving the award and a valuable accompanying monetary prize, gave much back to his family, both first and second generations.

Jim was to lead a good life and, in running for politics, acquired a mayorship in the same town in which he grew up.

William Forster

William was born in an urban setting in a prosperous area in northern California, near Sacramento. His family grew up in the same neighborhood as many other upper-middle-class families did. William’s dad was a well-paid high official in the state’s Department of Energy. And he was responsible for the functioning of the main electrical grid that provided the necessary output for the state’s energy use. The grid, if it malfunctioned, would resort to auxiliary power until the technical problem was rectified.

While William was in elementary school he was treated as special. He was smarter than just about every student and, while in second grade, won a spelling bee. Some of his classmates applauded him and raised him up in praise. William won a pair of opera glasses and a silver dollar. He was destined for success at this early age. At age ten his family, realizing his emotional problems, placed him in a youth home that offered the structure and special treatment that was lacking in his family life.

William was prone to outbursts, got upset easily, and was ridiculed by his peers. At the home, called the Sacramento Youth Center, William was to attend public schools and, from day one, he displayed good standing in acquiring the best grades. He was shy and did little socializing, basically because he lacked the skills. He was to feel somewhat inferior, as he didn’t possess in his view good looks or the confidence that others in the home were to manifest.

William’s hair was long, he wore glasses, had a ridiculous laugh, and was abused at the home by the older kids, who treated him like a jerk. Some of the kids were overtly aggressive, smoked, and engaged in coitus. William didn’t have sex, although lots of the girls there wanted to with him.

He liked baseball, and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a banner year when he started watching regularly. When not on television he’d hear games over the radio. He spent many nights listening to games. and frequently the dorm’s child-care worker had to turn off the radio, which might otherwise have disturbed the others’ sleep. The Dodgers were several games ahead of their rivals in the N.L. West division. He particularly liked Ron Cey and Steve Garvey. On one excursion from the youth home the guys from the intermediate dorm watched the team win a double header.

At his combination junior and senior high school, William made some friends who smoked and got high. After classes they would gather around the parking lot, being aggressive and out of hand. The guys from the lot got into fights and swore at teachers. William never engaged in such behavior and most of the students didn’t realize that he was from the Home.

At the Home if one was truant from school he was grounded for at least one week. William never skipped out of school and because his grades were exemplary, many of the kids were jealous. William was approached by some of the girls who were interested in his demeanor, as he had a prodigious sense of humor. A lot of the kids had a humorous side to their personalities, due appreciably to the conflictive nature of their neuroses. One of the staff at the Home took himself and the senior dorm to a drive-in movie and bought them beer. He was fired and most of the blame was on William, as he was the only kid to tell on the staff.

William was maturing and at fifteen he was over six feet tall. While in tenth grade he tried out for the junior varsity basketball team. With his height and jumping abilities he played center. He also blocked a lot of shots, pulled down rebounds, and scored many points, especially around the paint. William thus compensated for his shyness by admiration from his peers. Still he didn’t have a girl friend or have sex with any available girl.

William’s grades were still exemplary, and he made the honor roll. His friends from high school partied on the weekends and got him to neck with a girl from another of the area’s high schools. William got drunk and unruly and passed out. The girl tried to revive him but he wasn’t to gain consciousness until morning, with no memory of the night’s events.

Summers, William and some other kids were to sleep in the field near the Home’s gym, in small tents and sleeping bags. The stars were numerous, as the sky was very clear. The radio played some songs that reminded him of his involvement in life and his notoriety at school and the respect he was to assume in outdoing your average kid.

William had a secret component to his personality. He had visions of being a female. Although large and masculine, he had a youthful complexion. His eyes were, in the words of one female student, the prettiest, and that they were girl’s eyes. After graduation William began watching soap operas and talk shows. He kept his beard closely shaved and grew his fingernails long. He also started to socialize with women. One day William decided to move to Los Angeles.

His first week in L.A. he bought some women’s clothing and started using cosmetic enhancements. He acquired a job waiting on tables and soon thereafter went to school for a nursing degree. William looked at men but neither made overtures nor prostituted himself. He wasn’t nervous in the company of men but preferred to mix with females. Although a man anatomically he behaved, spoke, and displayed the mannerisms of the female gender.

His thoughts revolved around his appearance, his femininity, and his personality, which were quite attractive. He was to paint his nails and wear a stuffed bra. He started having fantasies about engaging in sex with the male persuasion, and at this point he decided to have an operation. It seemed that very few people criticized him because of his sexuality, as he was a genuine entity. Often William would involve himself in onanism while thinking about men. William was really a woman.

John Gatheron

John was twenty-eight, single, and an African American. He was employed with a sporting goods outlet. He was responsible for insuring the commodities were without any flaws. This required painstaking inventory and testing. Most of the goods, whether footballs or fishing poles, were impeccable specimens. If a flaw was detected, he would document the identification number and the tracking order form was given a red check. Careful attention was necessary so that the shipment could be closely inspected, as flaws were to manifest in proximity.

The job paid well and John was inhabiting a studio apartment in a prosperous community in a mid-western state. He had few friends, as he led an austere existence, mostly due to his impoverished youth. There were few black families in Dolton, and agriculture was the primary livelihood. The surroundings were rustic fields, with corn the main crop. When John was young he worked on one of the farms, basically tending to livestock such as cows, chickens and horses.

The cows were mostly confined to stalls, as were the chickens, that hatched on average at least one egg a day. The horses were to roam the pastures, and at night they would be rounded up and placed in stalls and fed oats and others of their favorite foods.

Although John was black the rural surroundings seemed to accept black farmers and there were little, if any, racial comments made.

John at sixteen had a girlfriend who went to the same school, was a cheerleader, and worked at the local market as a checker. They dated often and even had sex. This wasn’t discouraged, albeit kept sub rosa. John was fast,