I've finally done it ..............

My brother, Dean Shannon Dooley, who was 12 years older than mysel, I really never got to know that well. He was always a "generation" ahead of me. I guess he was a "hero" of mine, watched him high jump and broad jump, play basketball, go to college, be a "fraternity" man. When I was in grade school, he was in high school, then college, the Navy, married and a coach. He was much more than I ever hoped to aspire too, a "tough act to follow," so to speak.

In latter years, in Arizona, on visits, we had our first opportunities to really just sit a talk, I thoroughly enjoyed those visits. Even got to play golf together, he beat me.

He was a good student athlete, a good coach and teacher, coached track and basketball. He worked on an received his Masters Degree, was an officer in the Navy.

I have finally "bested" him in something, and few to none will be aware of it, at least, those who count. I Googled his name, and in images, there were quite a few, I was surprised. I think that one of his nephews, on his wife's side, has been doing some "Ancestry" stuff, and posted some photos that I had not seen for quite some time.

One linked me to the Ancestry site, and there was more information. Then I saw it and it dawned on me, it took me a long time, but I, Joseph Bradford Dooley, have finally bested by brother, Dean Shannon Dooley, and it has taken me a lifetime to do it, I am 81, he only made it to 80, gotcha, brother Bud.

The Bridge Builder

An old man, going a lone highway,

Came, at the evening, cold and gray,
To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide,
Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim;
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
but he turned, when safe on the other side,
And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near,
You are wasting strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day;
You never again will pass this way;
You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide-
Why build you this bridge at the evening tide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today,
A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him."
 
I first heard this in 1943, on a Sunday Morning, Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Chicago, Illinois, at their Chapel Service. My Mom and Dad and I had gone to Chicago to visit with my Brother, Dean Shannon Dooley, who was in the Navy in a V-12 program, and was doing his training there. The Chaplain used this poem as the theme for his sermon. I think of the "builder" often, thinking of the direction that this country is heading, and I think of my children, grand children and great grand children, and shudder, when I see what we are building for them.

Ganache Brownies

This brings back some fond memories of days gone way by .................. I think I got this recipe from a dealer we had at the Primm in Reno, she was French, and came to Reno via Cuba, where she was a wheel dealer at the Hotel Nacional, which I think was run by Myer Lansky. She had also worked at some world class casinos, in one capacity or another.

Bittersweet Brownies topped with a rich French frosting ............

6 ounces of bittersweet chocolate
1/2 cup of unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
7 ounces of semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup of heavy cream

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2. Butter a 9-inch square pan. Line the bottom with waxed paper and butter the paper. Flour the pan.
3. Melt the bittersweet chocolate and butter in a heavy pan over low heat or in a double boiler over hot water. Cool slightly
4. In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs until uniformly yellow. Beat in the sugar until thick. Add the vanilla. Add the chocolate gradually. Sift together, the flour, baking powder and salt and add to the chocolate mixture. Fold in the walnuts.
5. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake about 35 minutes until firm and/or a cake tester comes out clean.
6. Cool in the pan for ten minutes, then remove the brownies and place them on a plate.
7. Chop the semisweet chocolate fine and place in a small heatproof bowl. Slowly bring the cream to a full boil in a small saucepan, stirring frequently. Pour it over the chocolate and whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Chill briefly until it is thickened, about 15 minutes. Spread over the brownies and let cool until a glaze forms on top. Cut the brownies into squares, and enjoy.

Bing Davis

I came across these items the other day, and I think it is a great tribute to my brother, Dean Shannon Dooley. I think it is unique in a way, Bing is well known and a celebrity in many ways. In most of his biographical material he attributes his path in life, to my brother. Not many do that, I think it is neat.

Dr. Willis Bing Davis


Chairman: Board of Directors National Conference of Artists

Cultural leader, Willis "Bing" Davis was born on June 30, 1937 in Greer, South Carolina to Verona Hargrove Davis Buffington and Livonia "Lee" Davis, a coal truck driver and gospel singer. Growing up on Dayton, Ohio's East Side, Davis attended Washington Elementary School.

Bing agreed that the smallness of the community also meant a lot of camaraderie and mentoring from older members in the community. Bing talked about his high school teacher and coach, Dean Dooley: “More than a teacher, he was there, he talked with my family, talked to my mother, aunts and uncles, to point me in the right direction.”


Bing remembered that when Coach Dooley found out he was planning to drop out of Wilbur Wright High School, he took him and three other boys on an impromptu road trip to visit DePauw University.

The trip changed his life, not only because he ended up attending DePauw and went on to become a prominent artist, but because his coach’s interest in him showed him the importance of having supportive, encouraging mentors reaching out to you.

“If someone had not nurtured me, I would not have been able to do it. The potential might have been there, but I would not have done it.” The work he does as an educator is his way of giving back for all he received.