I believe his
given name was James Douglas. Out of respect we all called him Cap'n. When I
met him he was in his 70s, and still working despite a bad back. He worked
his own machine at Resco Products, Inc., along the banks of the Schuylkill
River between Conshohocken and Norristown, just outside Philadelphia. We made
heat-resistant cement to line tanks and pipes in refineries.
The Cap'n actually worked for the Labor Pool, located at 4th
and Girard Streets in Philly. Like several other people I worked with, he
migrated from the South (in his case South Carolina or Virginia) with thousands
of African-Americans in the 1940s.
He always had a smile, a kind word, and
everyone’s respect. The poem is form Saluda
Reflections, from Finishing Line Press.
https://soundcloud.com/arthur-turfa-1/sounds-from-wednesday
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