Remember that liquor ad about "The Most Interesting Man in the World". Well, that's not Pete. On the other hand, he would most likely be the most interesting person that any of us have in our personal circle of friends. At the age of eleven or twelve he played drums in a wedding band and earned enough to be able to pay for a brand-new car at sixteen. (A Rambler wagon to haul his drums, but that still counts as a new car, and somehow seemed to fit Pete. He put mags on it!) In his twenties he invented, built and patented one of the world's first electronic drum machines. Manufacturing was done in his basement. He's licensed as a broadcast engineer, licensed as a "100 ton captain" (which means he can captain rich peoples' yachts), started and built a company that bought, sold and refurbished lasers, played in a blues band that had songs near the top of the charts in Europe, currently plays as a studio musician for many groups in the St. Louis area, repairs fifty and sixty year old radios and jukeboxes for a hobby and grows pumpkins in his backyard. Oh, and has written a book! Pete and I have known each other over 65 years and have spent many an afternoon, often well into the evening (and sometimes into the wee hours of the morning) sitting at his breakfast room table, looking out over the Mississippi River, talking about absolutely nothing of any major consequence, and yet never running out of things to talk about. And sometimes there wasn't even alcohol involved. So, as you read this book remember, it is the ramblings of a guy who has probably seen and done things that most people only wish we could do. Are all the stories 100% true? Well, it is Pete, and there just might be some embellishment here or there. Just a little! But then, does that really matter? Jerry Ewing
