A Simple Garden Wedding?
I was sure I’d be there when they wed,
Since I love any modest affair.
But, I learned, to my growing chagrin,
T’was the garden of Madison Square!
The whole planet’s invited to view it!
Bride and groom seem to crave a grand fest!
I don’t care to observe all the pomp;
While the nation, methinks, is obsessed.
I’m distressed by the source of their wealth:
Entertainers and athletes the same.
Ev’ry schmuck has to sink into debt,
Just to savor a show or a game!
She feels sure of her athlete’s true love;
He’ll adore her and bend to her will;
Since he pledged with a most solemn oath:
For her lipstick, he’ll cover the bill!
Angelina adopted some youths
From some poor foreign lands that she knew.
Perhaps Taylor could copy that feat,
And adopt a poor nation or two.
I believe their careers will go on,
And will last for a decade or two;
But, more mansions they’ll soon have to buy,
To display the awards they accrue.
Now the gold nuptial knot has been tied.
And folks say it was truly a blast!
Still, my lingering question remains:
Just how long do you think it will last?
American writer, Guy Graybill, is a child of the American Depression of the 1930’s. He was born and spent his entire youth in a small Pennsylvania town. Following high school, Graybill spent a year as a mail clerk in state government before enlisting in the U.S. Army Security Agency, primarily based on Okinawa Island in the Pacific. There he was a Morse Code Intercept Operator.
Shortly after enlisting, Guy married Nancy Yerger, who was his high school sweetheart. They became parents of four children and spent more than six decades together, until Nancy’s passing in 2017.
Guy went directly from the military into Gettysburg College, where he earned a degree in History. While teaching in Pennsylvania, Guy also combined regular and scholarship work that allowed him to gain graduate-level credits from the following universities: Temple, Puget Sound, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Bucknell and Georgetown.
Graybill’s writing career began with non-fiction articles in small magazines. In 1975, because of the nation’s upcoming Bi-Centennial, he was hired to write a preliminary script for a recording about Pennsylvania’s critical role in the nation’s birth. That script was narrated by the late Canadian actor, Lorne Greene.
In 2025, Guy’s eighth book was published. The cluster of titles are: KEYSTONE, a history of Pennsylvania; BRAVO!, the history of Italian music (BRAVO was also published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing of Newcastle, England). PROHIBITION’S PRINCE, the biography of a well-known area bootlegger, FROST!, a retelling of old Russian skazki, or folk tales); WHIMSY AND WRY, a collection of rhyming poetry and commentary; INTOXICATION NATION, a book critical of the over-glamorization of alcohol, SCOUNDREL OF THE SUSQUEHANNA, a biography, and RHYMES FROM THE HINTERLAND, a poetry collection.
Guy and his close companion of recent years, Barbara Staschiak, have done considerable traveling within the state and have traveled three times across the country to Montana. Although now a nonagenarian, Graybill continues to travel, to speak and to write.