Mr. Smith Goes To Texas

Mr. Smith Goes to Texas
John Cali

My first real flying job was managing a small airport in West Texas. I was sort of a jack-of-all-trades -- manager, flight instructor, charter pilot, bookkeeper, etc. You name it, and I did it.

In my role as charter pilot, I met a Mr. H. Allen Smith. He often hired our services so he could indulge his passion as a gadabout. Mr. Smith was a well known humor writer, and we both had fled the confines of New York State.

So we immediately had a common bond, and found we also had other common bonds.

Allen had moved to Texas shortly before I did, although he was semi-retired, and I was just a youngster starting out in my career.

Allen knew how to have fun. After all, he was a famous humor writer. He had friends as famous as he was all over the country.

I met some real characters through Allen.

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