Showing results by narrator "Larry Farmer" in All Categories

"Short Stories" by Larry L. Farmer is a rich collection of nine evocative tales that delve into the heart of the American experience, particularly rooted in Texas. The stories explore universal themes of struggle, redemption, family, legacy, and the search for meaning. From a former country singer testing his mettle against the land and its legends in "The Ranch," to a gambler seeking salvation in the depths of the Great Depression in "The Promise," Farmer's characters are deeply human and compelling.

Following his stint as a marine during the Vietnam War, James needs something beyond the mundane conformity of his life in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As he enters the Peace Corps, a political reformer named Benigno Aquino is gunned down in the turbulent Philippines, half a world away. James has no idea fate will interweave events for him to witness the overthrow of a dictatorship and the miracle of a bloodless revolution.

Marine Veteran Nathan, too restless for college and everyday life at home, craves the adventure of backpacking around the world. Michaela, daughter of a Holocaust survivor, shares his love of backpacking and moving on. As they leave a kibbutz in Israel, they join forces to explore Europe before returning to their studies. Is it a match made in heaven?

Writing his master’s thesis, Wilson hears of the movie about America’s defense of South Korea against the Communists. He knows people who fought in that war. It’s more than history to him—it’s personal. He must go. As an extra, he’ll have a real view of what happened, experience it for himself. Sandra, a fellow Texan, meets Wilson on the flight from Dallas to Seoul. With her good looks and academic interests, she becomes a good friend immediately, and romance develops as they angle for bit parts in the movie. But when the shoot is over, can they go their separate ways?

Elon loved traveling the world. The complexity of being a Marine from Texas and of the '60s generation stirred a curiosity that led him to Taiwan, a small Chinese island. Life in a country that spoke a language he would never understand, one with an exotic history and culture, where he found himself broke and needing a job while surviving a near-death experience, fit the bill for his adventurous spirit.

It's a long way from Texas to the Middle East. But when Olivia's husband, Max, sees his American dream flounder in the post-9/11 world, she follows him back to his home in Lebanon. Just in time for the Arab Spring.

Dalhart McIlhenny wants something different in his life. Something others of his generation wouldn't understand. His search takes him to the Indian Capital of America, to a minimum wage job as a construction laborer with the Navajo and illegal aliens. Something so far away from the fast life and consumerism of Houston. Then he meets Carmen.

Jericho, just out of the Marines, returns to his roots in Texas only to face the anti-war movement that demonizes all Vietnam vets. He needs to sort through his life away from all that, and in his travels he stumbles upon a Shangri-La called the Lake District of England. There is peace and serenity around those lakes. And a girl—a beautiful, soulful girl he meets while working in the restaurant of a luxury hotel.

It was a new age, one called the Age of Aquarius. When the Beatles introduced the mystique of India to pop culture, the Hippie Trail was established as hip adventurers traveled overland from Europe to Kathmandu and India. Hunter was not among these hipsters. Still bitter over the way he was treated as a Marine combat veteran home from the Vietnam War, he felt the allure of the open road in America and in Europe. While getting visas in Vienna, he came across a Polish girl, Ewa, whose Politburo father got her unequal privileges she gladly abused to join Hunter on the trek to India to check out the new-age ashrams.

A young couple is about to get married. Paul is nearing graduation on an MBA while Lisa has recently become a certified schoolteacher. Both hail from Kansas City, but Lisa has had longings for the South since a little girl. As if ordained, she found a job as a teacher in the small municipality of Springhill, Louisiana, not far from Shreveport. An incredibly great bargain was offered to them as they looked for a home in their soon-to-be community. An old Southern mansion offered at what surely was half price. Paul delighted at such a bargain, but Lisa became skeptical.