When Big Al Miller was...
Illustration
When "Big" Al Miller was 12 years old, he peddled the Detroit Free Press every day and he made his collections every Saturday morning. He always had a few coins in hand even if his young buddies had only empty pockets. Big Al was generous and often made small loans to his young friends; he had become their banker at a very young age.
When he turned 16 years old he got his driver's license and he also got himself an other job -- working summers and Saturdays for a grain elevator. This meant he had to drive a pick-up truck, the delivery truck loaded with fertilizer, chicken feed, salt licks and whatever else the farmers had ordered.
On Saturdays Al would drive through the middle of town instead of going directly out into the country. By going through town, Al would be seen by his unemployed buddies loafing around the town's main corners near the ice cream parlor. With Big Al's new job now, he had more money and his generosity became bigger, too.
One day he told Argo Foster, "Sure I can lend you five dollars, and you won't need to pay it back for two or three months." Argo said to me later, "You know, Big Al is a different guy nowadays; with his new job, he's bigger, really bigger, if you know what I mean. He's like a brand new kid on our street."
-- Hoornstra
When he turned 16 years old he got his driver's license and he also got himself an other job -- working summers and Saturdays for a grain elevator. This meant he had to drive a pick-up truck, the delivery truck loaded with fertilizer, chicken feed, salt licks and whatever else the farmers had ordered.
On Saturdays Al would drive through the middle of town instead of going directly out into the country. By going through town, Al would be seen by his unemployed buddies loafing around the town's main corners near the ice cream parlor. With Big Al's new job now, he had more money and his generosity became bigger, too.
One day he told Argo Foster, "Sure I can lend you five dollars, and you won't need to pay it back for two or three months." Argo said to me later, "You know, Big Al is a different guy nowadays; with his new job, he's bigger, really bigger, if you know what I mean. He's like a brand new kid on our street."
-- Hoornstra
