In the Shadow of the Standpipe is a collection of anecdotes. This first published work of Mr. Kilgore reflects his perceptions of small town Ohio in the 1940's and '50's. He celebrates a selection of unforgettable characters drawn from his family and the community. He takes us into his boyhood home, to the golf course and to the courtroom. He rages against the waste and futility of both the Viet Nam and Iraq wars. All of these events and characters are seen through the prism of the author's undisguised pride in his parents' journey from desperately poor and uneducated tenant farmers to wage earners and the resulting expansion of his personal horizons.