Welcome back, Austin. We missed you.

Austin, Welcome back to the fold - you were missed by all. Please don't do that again ;)

My goodness, Austin! I can't adequately express how much we missed you. You're a very important part of our lives. Prayers continue for you.

P.S. Just picked up a VH 16 on an 0 frame with 26" tubes I think you'd approve of. Believe it spent most of its life in the grouse woods of upstate New York. Now it's gonna get a chance at Texas bobwhites.....if it'll ever rain.

Austin, great to hear from you. It has been said that it is hard to put a good man down, and my friend, you are truly a good man. Get well you are in my prayers! Gary

Austin, I believe your replacement needs some assistance in his new job. You may consider putting in a day or two a week to get him in line.

There are many men on the PGCA I'd welcome in my home
 

And that includes the almost 70 friends through our Private messsage sector, as well as others- But the place of honor at the head of the table has to go to Austin--truly a gentleman, a educated man, and what impresses me the most about him- he has that rare ability to explain complicated things (engineering disciplines) to anyone, no matter their education or background, and make it clear and simple- I think of Austin when I recall the line from one of my all time favorite poems- "IF" by Rudyard Kipling-- "If you can walk with kings and consorts, and not lose the common touch--" best wishes to both Austin and Pam and their family- from our PGCA family--

Bill, I sincerely hope that I have misinterpreted the context of your post. Not hard to do on the computer.

First, we are all thrilled to have Austin back and getting up to speed. And we look forward to his continued efforts as Editor of the Parker Pages. Austin's recent illness was unexpected and took us all by surprise. His recovery took longer and was more difficult than anticipated. We are lucky we even had a Summer issue of Parker Pages and if not for Dean Romig we wouldn't have. Dean stepped up when we needed him most and every member of the PGCA owes him a great debt of gratitude. It is my opinion that this was an outstanding issue of the Journal. And if the general membership had any idea of the trials faced in getting it compiled and published they would understand just how special it really is. Thanks again Dean, and Austin we're glad to have you back.

John Davis

Bill is an artist of "tongue-in-cheek" comments and that is how I took his post - no offense taken - no hard feelings - none of that. Bill and I get along pretty well. We rib each other once in a while but, all in all, we get along fine.

I spoke with Austin this evening. He sounds great! I'm glad he's back on top of his game!
Austin told me that he'll be ready to take charge of the Spring Edition of Parker Pages and I'll be ready to lend every assistance that I possibly can when he's back in the pilot's seat.

As an aside, giving credit where credit is due, Austin had a fair portion of Parker Pages edited prior to the turning point where I had to assume the responsibility of getting it finished... it was certainly "crunch time" by then and there was some 'scrambling' to be done. In any case, it got done and that's the point.

Speaking of credit where it is due, there is a certain "genious" layout artist at Village Press by the name of Brandon Hoffman who puts together all the text files and graphics (or photo) files we send him and he formats them and modifies them and assimilates them all into the finished product we know as "Parker Pages". I am amazed by his professionalism and dedication to our fine publication... My hat's off to Brandon. Please take a bow sir.

I also spoke with Austin and Pam last evening. It was great to hear both of their voices. Austin told me he felt he was feeling better by the day but there is a way's to go yet. As Austin put it"three weeks in a hospital bed makes a man soft"

He also expressed his sincere "Thank You" for all the cards,letters,emails and phone calls that he has recieved. As Austin put it being the humble man that he is " We had no idea we had so many friends" It was a great phone visit....I really missed talking to him over the last few month's.

Keep up the good work Mr. Hogan....:)

One of the disadvantages of being a "mugwump" is that a comment can be taken more than one way. Obviously, I was teasing Austin about the excellent quality of his and Dean's work on our wonderful rag. As most of you know, when I am on a rant, you will recognize it.