I'm still buried with work but I wanted to note a couple of good things that have happened. I've done a website on my Grandfather, Griffith Baily Coale. He was a mural painter in New York City in the 1930s and started the Naval Combat Artist program during WWII. He published a couple of books and I have them up on the web site with some additional writings. There is a lot more to add to the site but I've been distracted from it for almost three years now. I hope to get back to it soon. But, because the site is there, people have found me.

Several months ago I received an email from a storage facility in Connecticut. They had a painting done by Griff and wanted to know if I would be interested.

They ended up with it when a moving company next door went out of business. They had tried to find the family of the people who had originally wanted to move it but failed to locate anyone. Then they searched but the painter and found Griff's site and me. It's a large portrait: 68"x65". We don't know who the subject is but it was an opportunity to get another Griff painting for a *very* reasonable amount. It has a little damage but that is repairable. I asked around the family and my daughter Katie is going to take it. She will be sending in the final amount next week and then we will be getting it shipped back to the Coale family.

Monday I received an email from Louie, a member of the league of Women Voters in Eugene, Oregon. He was in charge of book sales for the League. They had been given a copy of Griff's North Atlantic Patrol, from a member, June, who had died, for their annual book sale. When Louie had gone to the web to find out about the book he found my site on Griff and thought I should be the one to have the book. This copy is quite unique. The owner of the book had been a nurse during WWII and there were 56 signatures, with home towns and some addresses, in the book. Louie didn't know the story behind it but it seemed these signatures were from the time June was a nurse in the war.

I'm honored to be the caretaker for this book. Louie wrote me: "I feel that we don't own books. We only have them in our libraries for a short while and then they are passed on to future generations. Those members of your Grandpop's generation are fast leaving us and we need to preserve their legacy. Your Grandfather did that with his art and you are doing it with your web site." I did find June's obituary on the web and hope to contact one of her children to see if they might know the story behind the signatures. The book arrive yesterday. I need to note this in Griff's site and get back to work on it but I need to finish off another site about Griff first: Gordy and Madelane's Great Pilgrimage. Soon.