DE SOTO: Local man pens book with Jeffco ties
'Floyd's Tire Mart' has recognizable characters
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| Andrew Jansen Photo Max Taylor is the author of the book "Floyd's Tire Mart," which is a story about characters in the Arnold area. |
Taylor, 57, of De Soto, recently published "Floyd's Tire Mart," a story about characters living along the Meramec River in the Arnold area in the 1960s who all have ties to the busy gas station and tire center.
"Floyd's was actually in south St. Louis County, but I moved it to Jefferson County because most of the people I met at the gas station were from Jefferson County," he said. "It made things simpler to move it."The story takes place in the early '60s and witnesses the arrival of Interstate 55, which brought a boon of growth to Jefferson County.
"The old had to make way for the new, farmland became subdivisions ... businesses and government struggled to keep pace with the growth," reads the synopsis on the back of the book's jacket.
The book revolves around the life of Floyd's assistant manager, Al Creed, who reluctantly acquires custody of his teenage son, Byron.
The Creeds live along the Meramec near Arnold in one of the long-gone homes on stilts on Shady Lane. The book tells of a time when "river rats" abounded and flood waters brought out the best and worst in people.
Many longtime Jefferson County residents may recognize one of the book's characters, "Bud Browdy," who is loosely based on Sheriff Walter "Buck" Buerger, who was elected in 1965 and served until 1992.
Taylor's sheriff character, like Buerger, was a star high school baseball player, played AA ball after graduation, was a part-time bartender and ran on the Reform Party ticket. However, that's where the similarities pretty much end.
Browdy has help from a local mortician getting elected and goes into his first day on the job to find only one person left on his office staff, a scene Buerger said was absolute fiction.
"Not only did I keep all the former staff members, I kept the sheriff I beat and I even kept the wife of the sheriff who was killed in a car wreck, Helen Church," Buerger, now 82, said.
Buerger was a little skeptical about having a character in a book based on his persona.
"I hope he portrayed me in a good way," he said.
Buerger said he might get a copy of the book to find out.
"Floyd's Tire Mart" is available online at www.Xlibris.com, or at Books Galore, 840 S. Truman Blvd., Festus.
