In Memory of Edward "Joe" Crone

[NNadir]

The greatest opening line of a book - which was not the opening line of a book - is to my mind the full sentence, "Listen."

It opens Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut's greatest novel, and, I think, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, novel(s) about war of all time.

Waiting until after Edward Crone's parents had died, Kurt Vonnegut let it be known that Mr. Crone was the model for Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist of Slaughterhouse Five who "has become unstuck in time."

Edward Crone Memorial, near Rochester, NY.

Unfortunately as a species, we have never managed to do that where war is concerned, to Listen.