YOU LIVE AND LEARN - William Ferris. Read by Michael Kramer

YOU LIVE AND LEARN. THEN YOU DIE AND FORGET IT ALL:

Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men



by William Ferris (1992)



Narrated by Michael Kramer

Books On Tape Inc (1995) Book #3670. 0001265898/1985444-001.

Out of print.



I could not find this recording in digital format,so I converted my copy

of this recording to MP3. From audio cassette (Nakamichi Dragon) to CD

(Pioneer PDR-555RW) to MP3 (iTunes 8, 96kbps VBR, Mono (effectively 50kbps).



Dolby NR was NOT used - you can post-process or equalize to your liking.



Cheers, FerraBit

February 2009



____________________

Introduction

Chapter 1 - School Days

Chapter 2 - Dog Days

Chapter 3 - Up and Down That Dog

Chapter 4 - Rattlesnakes, Coyotes, and Wild Horses

Chapter 5 - Eight Thousand Horses

____________________



Ray Lum (1891-1977) was an American original, a one-of-a-kind

figure. In this book he speaks his mind in a colorful folk

dialect and tells of the world in which he presides. Mules were

his main interest. His home and his auction barn were in

Vicksburg, Mississippi, but in trading he fanned out over twenty

states and even into Mexico. Over several years William Ferris

tape recorded many long conversations with Lum. In them Lum

gives the ins and outs of livestock auctioneering, cheery

memories of rustic Deep South culture, and a philosophy of life

that is grounded in good horse sense.



Review From Publishers Weekly

Born in 1891 in rural Mississippi, Ray Lum traveled the South

for 60 years as a respected livestock trader and auctioneer,

collecting rich experiences he retold--even at universities and

folk festivals--in a colloquial, humorous and generous voice.

Ferris, coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture ,

interviewed Lum (who died in 1977), and notes that his life

"bridged the disparate worlds of black and white, of old and

new, of South and West." Lum's tales, organized into six

chapters of narrative, might better be chopped into episodes,

but they remain valuable for those interested in such folklore.

His language is vivid (a cemetery is a "marble orchard") and his

voice wise (when he loses money on an early deal, the lesson is,

"You don't absolutely have to have, you can do without"). Among

many adventures, Lum bested cheating gypsies who offered a

pretty but vicious horse, ate barbecued rattlesnake, made a deal

for wild Texas horses and barely avoided the outlaws Bonnie and

Clyde. "I'm fine," said Lum in his old age. "I just need to have

my speedometer set back." This book lets him live on.



Review From Library Journal

Ferris serves a slice of Southern life in this presentation

of the wit and wisdom of Ray Lum, livestock trader and

auctioneer. Born in 1891 in rural Mississippi, Lum bartered

horses and mules throughout the South and Southwest. He recalls

his travels and life experiences with the passion and color

characteristic of a consummate storyteller. These personal

reflections are a tribute to a way of life gone by and a

preservation of its memory. The volume opens with a foreword by

Eudora Welty [not on audio book] and concludes with an extensive

bibliographic essay and endnotes. Full of humor and the drama of

life, this book will delight a wide range of readers.



____________________



Published in print:



Anchor; 1st edition (March 1, 1992)

ISBN-10: 0385419260 ISBN-13: 978-0385419260

http://books.google.com/books?id=4O94AAAAMAAJ



and



Mule Trader: Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules, and Men

By William R. Ferris, Ray Lum

Contributor Eudora Welty

Published by Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1998

ISBN 1578060869, 9781578060863

http://books.google.com/books?id=lR3FO2RPJQAC

____________________See the film "Ray Lum: Mule Trader" By William Ferris (aka Bill Ferris)

http://www.folkstreams.net/film,97



Other Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Ferris

http://www.amazon.com/You-Live-Learn-Then-Forget/dp/0385419260