It took author Keith Walker nearly three-fourths of his life to
tell the story of his grandfather, but it
’s a tale he felt needed to be recorded forever.
It took author Keith Walker nearly three-fourths of his life to tell the story of his grandfather, but it’s a tale he felt needed to be recorded forever.
And while George Tallmon’s life was not a tale of valiant heroism or courage in the line of fire, it was the kind of life that Walker himself has spent 80 years trying to emulate.
“I’ve been working on the book most of my life. It’s been about 60 years of gathering information,” said Walker, a former newspaperman who spent 32 years writing for Bay Area newspapers. He recently released his latest novel, ‘The Golden Thread: A Biography of George A. Tallmon.’ “My inspiration was to tell the story of a fine Christian man. He was such an outstanding man. He was a role model.
“He did everything just about the way it should be. He was always very patient and kind and loving and understanding. He lived his faith, and I admired that in him.”
Tallmon’s story of working for the Salvation Army, starting a family and moving from his Iowa home to come to Morgan Hill in 1903 to become a prune farmer is one Walker only knew a little about when he was growing up. He was just 9 years old when his grandfather died. But the stories from his family about the days of a family growing up in Morgan Hill are what keep Tallmon’s legacy alive.
“A lot of it came from stories that were passed down,” said Walker, who heard many tales from his grandmother. “He had been with the Salvation Army. He bought a prune farm where the Chevron and Kentucky Fried Chicken are off the freeway (Highway 101 and the Dunne Avenue exit).”
On the cover of Walker’s book, there is a picture of a eucalyptus tree that once stood where the ranch was located. The Chevron station now stands where the tree was in the ground.
Only two of Tallmon and his wife, Emma’s, 12 children are still alive, and Walker, 80, is the oldest of their grandchildren. He said he still can remember a lot from his childhood spent in Morgan Hill during the 1920s and ’30s. Tallmon said the days of Morgan Hill before Silicon Valley ever got its nickname were quiet, as the town was little more than one main road and was almost exclusively agricultural.
“I got to know Morgan Hill pretty well. I was there frequently,” he said. “It was a lot of prune ranches. I remember harvest time and remember picking prunes and drying them out in the fields. It was just one ranch after another.”
Tallmon, who was on the Morgan Hill school board and also was a plumber craftsman, had quite a hand in the community – especially when it came to the church.
“The Methodist Church was very important,” he said.
Tallmon built the pews of the church, and one of Walker’s grandmothers wrote a poem that is still kept at the church today.
Walker still visits Morgan Hill from his home in Santa Rosa several times each year.
“Most of my family is buried in the cemetery,” he said.
Purchase “The Golden Thread” at BookSmart, 17415 Monterey Road, 778-6467 or www.amazon.com
