One of Us | Wayne J. Page Sr. Son completes father's book

By Lori Carter
August 5, 2007

Wayne J. Page Sr. finished the job his father left behind. Page, who turns 73 today, said it took 12 years to organize, write and finally self-publish "A Journey Through the Twentieth Century". "My dad, he's the author, and I'm the co-author," he said of his father, who died in 1995.

The 190-page book includes chapters of the late Warder Page's family life, from his parents and siblings to his first and second wives, children and grandchildren. History -- the Great Depression and the 1937 flood of Huntington, W.Va. -- is entwined. Photos are scattered throughout.

"I wanted to bring it to life," Page said of the book. "Genealogy can be very boring -- names and dates."

Page, a Villages resident since 2001, began sorting through papers for the book shortly after his father died at age 94. More than half was written, but there was one problem.

"I couldn't type," he said. "That was my frustration."

Last year, Page, founder and first president and a current member of the Central Florida Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society and Heart of Florida Chorus, found help through Shelby Fussell, a Villages Charter High School student.

Page, whose previous writing experience was a paper he wrote on the history of barbershop while in high school, said Shelby spent hours and hours of transcribing handwritten material and typing the first draft.

Of the 19 chapters in the book, "one is written from dad's perspective and then one from mine," he said.

In barbershop, Page sings either lead or second tenor. He learned the barbershop style of singing from his father, a baritone, many years ago. When he was a junior and senior in high school, Page used to catch the streetcar to go to barbershop meetings and "sing until the wee hours of the morning."

During his elementary school years in Pittsburgh, Page would stay at his aunt's home in Ohio in the summer. Father and son would spend a day traveling and singing old songs such as "When It's Springtime in the Rockies."

"He would harmonize to my lead," Page said. "It was fun."

Page, a recreation director for the military for 34 years, lived and worked in Panama, Korea and Germany. The first time he went to Germany in 1955 he was in the Army. That's when he met his future wife, Kathryn.

Although Page say he is really "not an author, but a history buff," he might just write another book one day.

"My wife says 'no,' " he said. "We'll see."

The late Warder Pages' 11 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren have copies of the book, for which all profits will be donated to the Barbershop Harmony Society's Youth in Harmony Program.

"We [the family] think he's up there looking at this, his book being published . . . " Page said. "He always had a family story. He was a character."

To buy the book 'A Journey Through the Twentieth Century' contact Wayne J. Page Sr. at 352-750-6980.