One of my crusades in life is to help keep memories alive. That includes memories of people. I’ll wager that I was the only person you know who celebrated the 116th birthday of Lowell Thomas on April 6th. That’s not surprising because most of you are not old enough to remember him. However, I do because I loved hearing him tell exciting stories on the radio when I was growing up. He had a rich voice made for radio and he went all over the world telling about what he was seeing. For instance, he’s the guy who made Lawrence of Arabia famous. He took a photographer with him into the desert and captured Lawrence on film in 1918. This also made Lowell famous. He’s the person who invented the travelogue. He was to an earlier era what the stars of today’s Travel Channel are to us today. But he was first and foremost a story teller. And he could tell some tall ones. I have a copy of his book published in 1931 entitled: Tall Stories: The Rise and Triumph of the Great American Whopper. I got it down and reread it in memory of him last week.

     He reminded me of the genre of tall tales especially indigenous to the Old South and sometimes called “convivial snake tales.” They are also sometimes called “thirsty snake tales.” Here is an example of such a tale. A young feller and his grandpa decide to go fishing on a hot summer day. So they get their cane poles, hooks and lines and amble down to their favorite fishing hole. When they reach the water’s edge they begin looking for some worms for bait. Soon they spot a big old water moccasin lying right up against the bank holding a bullfrog in its mouth and about to swallow. Well, grandpa grabs a stick with a fork on one end and pins the snake’s head down so it can’t swallow the frog. Then the grandson snatches the frog from the fangs, cuts the frog into small pieces and they use it for bait. While they are fishing, grandpa notices the snake still hanging around with a sad and hungry look on its face. So, taking pity on the forlorn reptile he reaches into his overall pocket, pulls out a jar and pours a little moonshine into the snake’s mouth. The snake slips away into the dark water. A few minutes later Gramps feels a thump on his leg. He looks down and discovers that the snake is back with another frog between it jaws! This is a version told by lots of North Carolina oldtimers.

     Now that’s the basic story. It is told in many variations. Lowell Thomas, who was reared in Ohio, says he’s once heard the story told by a northerner but he regarded it as clearly exaggerated and therefore not really believable. In that version, the snake is back in a few minutes with 250 more snakes, each with a frog in its mouth. I wouldn’t reject the story outright. Sometimes we are required to make allowances for hyperbole. All story tellers are prone to over excitement in the heat of the telling.

     The snake story is usually related to a fishing tale. One variation is about a fellow strolling along a stream. He noticed that the trout were jumping and in great profusion. He had no gear with him to allow fishing. Just then he felt a tapping on his leg. He looked down and saw a blacksnake which smiled up at him and wiggled its tail—obviously wishing to go fishing. Knowing the snake was not poisonous, he took the snake by the tail, dropped its head into the water and almost instantly drew it out of the water with a large fish in its mouth. They continued to fish all afternoon and the man rewarded the snake with several fine fish for its supper. Reports of this story come out of New York state.

     Of, course the most famous snake story comes right out of the Bible. It doesn’t have a convivial snake nor, despite appearances, a helpful spirit, although it seems to have had a charming personality. I mention all this snake business because now that the weather is warming up, so are the snakes. Be careful where you step! Lowell Thomas used to sign off with “So long until tomorrow.” I just say, so long until next week!

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