Discover the Stories of a Young Farm Boy Wanting to Share His Life Experiences Now at the Age of 80 Years.
In this first book, join Robert Phillips as he shares his heartfelt memoir, ‘Big Boys Don’t Cry’.
Experience the trials and triumphs of rural life and the unwavering bond of family love.
Meet Robert Philips:
A Passionate Storyteller
Robert Phillips grew up on a Kansas Farm, where the simplicity of rural life shaped his dreams and ambitions. His experiences and family bonds inspired him to share his heartfelt memoir, ‘Big Boys Don’t Cry’.
Robert Phillips was born on a cold and snowy night on December 18, 1944. World War Two was still raging on and the infamous “Battle of the Bulge had just started the day prior. He was born into a wonderful, loving and remarkable family that consisted of his mother and father plus four sisters, all at least nine years older. The birth took place in Eureka, nestled in the beautiful Kansas Flint Hills.
He was taken to the small farm the family lived on after his release from the hospital, near Virgil which would be his home for the next seven years.
- He graduated from Maize High School in 1963.
- Attended Kansas State University and Wichita Sate University graduating with a degree in Business Administration and receiving a commission in the United States Army.
- Served in Vietnam in 1971.
- Moved to Lawrence, Kansas in 1975.
- In Lawrence over the next fifty years worked at the following: Real estate Agent, President of the Lawrence Board of Realtors, Led the renovation of the Historical Eldridge Hotel in 1986 and operation for the following eighteen years, Founder of the Eldredge Old Fashion Christmas Parade in 1993 and still continues on today under the management of other Lawrence residents, Built and operated with his wife the Victorian Veranda Country Inn for twenty-three years. In 2007 and 2008 organized and operated the Great Santa Fe Trail Horse Race Endurance Ride: A competitive equine event covering over 500 miles during a two week period, traveling from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Council Grove, Kansas.
- In 2022 sold Victorian Veranda and moved into Lawrence and retired.
- Started Writing, “Big Boys Don’t Cry”
- At the age of eighty years old finished the memoir.
My Audio-Reader story.
About three years ago my wife and I retired, after selling our Bed and Breakfast/Wedding Venue we moved into Lawrence. My world stopped turning and my life turned to depression, anxiety, aggravated by PTSD brought on by my experiences in Vietnam. Nothing to do to occupy my time and get my thoughts going in a positive direction. My VA advisor, Dawn Claus suggested the Audio-Reader Program.
I failed to mention I am legally blind and do not drive any more. This only exacerbated my situation. With my wife’s encouragement I started receiving taped books from the Kansas state Audio-Reader in Emporia. I started seeing improvement in my mental health after being able to immerse my mind in these stories and forget my negative thoughts lingering in the depths of my brain. This even started helping me get my thoughts off some of the physical pain, I was experiencing.
It wasn’t long before I had listened to all the books I really liked, that was memoirs of people living in Kansas in rural communities, especially about children growing up on farms. I kept kidding Maggie Wattie at the Emporia Audio-Book Library that I was going to write a book about me growing up near Virgil, Kansas and have it recorded. I am sure she was thinking to herself and maybe telling some of her co-workers, “You won’t believe what this crazy man told me he was going to do.
Now it is three years later and the book is written and that crazy man, now eighty years old has teamed up with the Audio-Reader Program here in Lawrence to launch this book. My contact person here is Martha Kehr. Listener outreach coordinator at Audio-Reader, University of Kansas.
I hope my experience will help other people learn about the Audio-Reader Program and maybe help put their minds in a more favorable state as it did me. Without the help of my wife Beverly, my friends and family, the great medical support both physical and mental provided by the Veteran Administration and the Audio Reader program this story would not have been told. My hat is off to you all.
For those of you who don’t qualify for the Audio-Reader Program this book can be purchased at a number of independent book stores and of course on line from Amazon.
Have a look at Audio-Reader Network
Robert Philips, Author
A Journey of Dreams and Family Love
A young boy’s dream of becoming a cowboy meets the realities of farm life and the ever-strong bond of family love. This is a Mid-Century Memoir where real life clashes with the young boy’s dream but after persistence he gets his horse and goes on a cattle drive.
About the Book
I recount stories from my early years growing up on a one-hundred-and-sixty-acre farm located in the beautiful Flint Hills of Kansas. My parents were tenant farmers who accepted all the uncertainties this arrangement carried with it. The events and activities of the rural community in midcentury America provide the backdrop of a simpler time when a young boy could be entertained by his dogs, cats, bottle calf, and eventually, his own horse.
My family included four sisters, but only two lived at home with me as the elder two were already married. Since my sisters were all more than nine years older than I, the age disparity contributed to my being dramatically spoiled and teased. I hope the love my family had for each other comes through with every word written.
The title of my book is derived from what my mother always told me “Big boys don’t cry.” That was a difficult thing to learn for a young boy who was just at the age where it was easy to have tears well up in my eyes and feel like crying, especially when encountering some of life’s most tragic moments. Still, like other young boys of that era, growing up strong and tough like my father was always the goal.
Even with hardships, my main focus was to become a cowboy and to have my own horse. The family is everything when surviving on a little farm where it meant producing most of our own food and making a large portion of our clothes.
In 1951, we were confronted with the terrors of what was considered the worst flood ever to take place in Kansas. To see all of our crops destroyed meant no feed for livestock which then had to be sold. With no animals and no products to sell, that also meant no way to make an income. Like many other farmers devastated by losses from the flood the future looked extremely bleak.
Then another blow was dealt we received an eviction notice from the landlord with only sixty days to relocate. But the disaster didn’t stop there as my memories from long ago impart.
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robertwphillips1944@gmail.com