Editor’s Notes

In her letter dated January 13, 1979, Mom’s description of scattering my Dad’s ashes ends with a cryptic remark:

…together Alex and I did the last courtesies. Afterwards I tossed in Louis’ silver dollar.

My brother Alex and I know that Louis is Louis P. Bondurant Jr., our parents’ dear, long-time friend from Atlanta. However, neither of us has a clue about his silver dollar. I guessed that Louis must have given the silver dollar to either Mom or Dad at some point and that it had special emotional significance.

Unfortunately, by the time I worked on this chapter in 2017, Louis himself had passed away. I checked with his son, Louis P. Bondurant III, to see whether he or his mother Fran could shed any light on the matter. Fran did not know of any specific circumstances that might explain the remark. However, she did recall someone once giving Louis a silver dollar for good luck and suggested that he probably did likewise with Bucher.

The story of Louis’ silver dollar remains somewhat of a mystery.