Gerry and Me
By: George E. Coon
World literature is rife with tales of young lovers, but neglects mature love. Gerry and Me details a love affair between two middle-aged, married (not to one another) educators, both writers of textbooks for children. It tells of their growing affair, the difficulty of wanting to be together without hurting others, and, finally, of more than thirty years of marriage spent working together while traveling to multiple countries on six different continents. Gerry and Me proves love does not reside exclusively among youth, but can flourish for people of all ages.
Finally, Gerry and Me memorializes Gerry - a woman described by the author, George E. Coon, as "Auntie Mame with brain power, or Mary Poppins with both feet on the ground." Coon chronicles the joys of life with Gerry throughout the book, including dancing a jig at a hobo jamboree, swimming with whales while assisting researchers in Costa Rica, and countless other adventures. The book is written from the perspective of Coon who was "beside her throughout these often humorous occasions."
About the Author
George E. Coon was born into a family of ten during the Great Depression. During his preteen years, he picked cherries during summer harvests "to earn money for school clothes." In high school, he played four years of varsity baseball and basketball - the only sports available. During the later years of World War II, he worked in a meat market while in high school, a trade he relied on through college, always with the goal of becoming a teacher.
His earliest teaching contract was in a one-room rural school where he was the sole teacher for grades K-8. The contract also stipulated he do his own janitor work. During his nearly six decades of teaching he taught in Indiana, Illinois, New York, Michigan, England, and China. He is Professor Emeritus from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan.
His educational publications number over sixty, often with Gerry joining him as co-author. Since retirement, he has written three sports quiz books and a memoir entitled Bert's Boy: Growing Up During The Great Depression and World War II.
