Roundtoits

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Through the middle of Saint Augustine is a street only two tenths of a mile long. The name of the road is Hypolita Street and on the northwest corner where Saint George Street crosses Hypolita stands the Columbia Restaurant. Somewhere along the two tenths of a mile, was the private home of Jack D. Hunter.

Jack D. Hunter – it seems an ordinary name, but Mr. Hunter was so much more than an ordinary man. He was born in 1921 and was one of the countless quiet and extraordinary who would always claim he was only an ordinary participant in World War II. He passed away early Monday morning on April 13, 2009.

From news reports and articles written about and by Mr. Hunter, he saw more tragedy and misery during his time as an officer in the United States Army than should be allowed. And as with all writers, which he later went on to become, all of his experiences served him well in penning some truly great novels.

Hunter’s most famous novel, The Blue Max, is a story of a World War I German aviator which was picked up by Hollywood and made into the movie of the same name staring George Peppard and Ursula Andress. Hunter went on to write more than a dozen other novels and served as a writing tutor for local journalists in the Northeast Florida area. He was, without a doubt, a writer’s writer.

And he was one of my heroes. Imagine my surprise when last year I found out he lived in the same area. I told my wife I would like to meet Mr. Hunter in the near future.

Over the course of the past year, I have been meaning to try to meet with him. But, as one of my aviation friends once told me, I had a lot of “roundtoits” in my tool box.

“What’s a ‘roundtoit’?” I asked. I thought it must be another of the wonderful tools contained in his toolbox.

“You know, one of those things I need to do, but I have to get around to it,” Jeff said.

Finding Jack Hunter was one of my roundtoits; unfortunately, this roundtoit didn’t wait long enough for me to get up and around to it. The same thing happened with my Uncle Buddy. Some roundtoits just won’t keep.

The lesson a simple – do now what you have to do while you can. This includes your own writing.

My wife and I enjoy dining at the Columbia every now and then. I often wonder now how many times we may have shared the restaurant with Jack D. Hunter.

jC