My Uncle Buddy wasn’t around much. My parents said he was traveling from town to town doing his music from an early age.
When he was around he always brought gifts that to us were treasures, but in reality they were small trinkets. Things like beer caps from a beer not sold in the area or a books of matches, chewing gum, leaflets from the shows he did (wish I would have saved some of those). As kids we would always beg him to sing us a song and he would never disappoint. I have memories of him pulling a napkin out of his pocket from a diner with lyrics written on them. He would practice his songs with us as his audience. He was kind and gentle but I always had a sense that he was sad or troubled. He was gone for weeks or months at a time.
Uncle Buddy’s favorite trick when he would come home was to magically make a guitar pick appear from behind our ear. Corny, but a fond memory.
Fun facts about Uncle Buddy: Born on May 5th 1939. If he is still with us he is 79 years old. Most people, even family, don’t know that Buddy’s real first name is Walker. Family members said that he was called Buddy from an early age and the name stuck.
-Duke Kostner
