Vice Admiral Dennis A. Jones, USN (Ret.), has written a fun memoir about growing up in Fairbury during the late 1950s. Written to showcase the lessons he learned while coming of age in small-town Nebraska, the book also features memorable characters and antics that would probably be frowned upon today.

From the epilogue: "Every day of my career I made decisions that were based on lessons that I had learned in Fairbury, Nebraska, and on a farm in Mahaska, Kansas. For the most part, my decisions were good, but I made mistakes—sometimes, doozies. But I knew that my childhood had given me the tools necessary to succeed and to approach situations in a logical manner. I had been taught to be decisive in my decision making, but most of all, I had been taught—no, commanded—to listen. …You can learn a lot from other people, good things and bad things, if you will just listen—I made a career of it."

Readers of A Piece of Kansas Soil by Jim Cossaart may remember Jim's great-uncle, Leslie Cossaart. Leslie Cossaart was Dennis Jones's grandfather.

Check out Parables from the Prairie: How an Admiral Was Trained on Dry Land.