June 2001
Eight months later I was back at Nestorest for a visit.
Frank Sherman (6/2001)
My Last Talk with Frank
Saw him sitting in his "high chair" with the garage doors open one morning, so I walked up his driveway.
Uncharacteristically he said, "come on in - pull up a chair," which I did. Thought he might be in the mood to talk again, so I asked how his trip to Florida went. "Lousy", he said. "Don't think I'll go back."
How long did it take you to drive down? "Two days. One thing you find out driving those roads at 75 and 80 mph is that you have to watch both your side view and rear view mirrors. I didn't do bad for my age," he said with a smirk.
Then he said, "They like your book." Book? You mean what I've put on the internet? "Your book," he said, not really understanding internet. "Every place I went people told me how much they like the story. Guess I'm famous now." No, Frank, you were famous before the "book" came out. "They sure like it, he said, everyone at the bank told me about it."
It was his way of saying, without saying it, that he liked the "Caroga Times" story about himself and the park.
We small talked for a few
minutes, then he said "I've got to get something to eat" - and walked
into the house.
Frank (92) passed away, Thursday, January 24, 2002, after a brief illness. Born September 4, 1909 in Gloversville, he was the son of Frank J. and Della Hines Sherman..... And the "Walt Disney of the Adirondacks" to the rest of us. Only forty years earlier than Disney.
September 2003 I was walking by Frank's house and noticed the garage door open. Janet, Frank's daughter, was in the house and apparently put the blanket on Frank's chair in a small tribute to him.