Huff Hardin Robert (3 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Nonauthor gift inscription.

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. Peggy Hugg (illustrator). Bound in blue hardcover with sliver lettering. Inscribed and signed by author Van E. Huff on the front black endpaper. Clean and bright book, hinges tight, unmarked. Inscribed and Signed By Author.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Huff, Peggy (illustrator). Fine condition dark blue boards with silver front cover and spine lettering contained in a very good condition non price-clipped color illustrated dust jacket. Includes Acknowledgments and Foreword. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs and black-and-white line drawings. Some scattered foxing on the rear blank endpapers and some light to moderate upper rear left jacket edge repaired 1/2 inch closed tear and a bit of light edgewear. All other pages are in very fine condition and the spine/binding is exceedingly tight and square (see photographs). "The Simple Itch of Dissatisfaction . " In his colorful memoir, Van E. Huff writes: "I don't claim to be a deep philosopher, nor do I have any illustion that history books are going to devote any space to my development of something called the 'jalousaie.' But I have observed a few things in my 88 years, good times and bad ." What he has observed is American history from Colorado mining camps made famous by Mark Twain and Bret Harte, to a space-age Miami developed beyond the wildest expectations of even the most visionary dreamers of his youth. Whether enthralled with mining camp machines, staring incredulously at the first airplane to fly over Miami, fishing with Ernest Hemingway in Cuba, witnessing the flash of a distant atomic test in the Pacific, or struggling to develop and promote his jalousie, he evokes an age of innocence in America, a generation which did not take wonders for granted. Van Huff grew up at a time when Americans were inspired by the Horatio Alger books, symbol of "rags to riches" success. His own story is one of overcoming successive obstacles. "Literature tends to dwell on the emotions of love and hate and greed and ambition," he writes, "but I suspect that for sheer impact on history, the simple itch of dissatisfaction has had more effect than all the more glorified emotions combined." It was that "simple itch" that made Van Huff dissatisfied with the eighth grade education in Colorado that limited his horizons. A grocery clerk, dance instructor, and playboy in early-day Miami, he yearned for success. The steps that allowed him to obtain a Civil Engineering degree at the University of Florida, to become assistant city engineer of Miami, to survive the Great Depression, and to carve out a career as an inventor and successful businessman, are told here, entwined with graphic memories of the times he has witnessed." - from the inner front jacket flap.