(Happy Father's Day in Dutch)

This is my dad when he was about 14.
I just like this picture, so I put it here.

Stelianos R. Marinakis
June 26, 1932 to September 17, 1994

Father: Stelianos Marinakis of Skordalou, Crete, Greece
Mother: Mary Vande Bogard (I am unsure of the spelling)
of Skenectady, New York, USA
(she was of Dutch, French, and Scott descent.
I don't have a Scottish Flag so I flew the Union Jack instead)

My father was fascinated by Holland. He loved tulips and delft, hence the background I created. He was a writer, but was never published. So, my Father's Day gift to him is to publish, on the web, an excerpt from an unfinished work.

This is the opening from an unfinished mystery novel titled, "The Minatour Murders"

Walking back and forth on the front proch of my Italianate Victorian house on Steiner Street, I lit another cigarette. Yes, I know the dangers of smoking and I am prepared to agree that the breathing of second-hand smoke is as dangerous to the bystanders as it is to the original smoker. However, I would like to remind any of those faithful watchdogs of my health--puritans all-- that it was my front porch and that I was alone. There is a little strip of cardboard, embossed in stately  old English Gothic, stuck to the inside of the plate glass of the front door that states very clearly:

             "This is a smoker's house. If this offends you, please do not enter."

Underneath is a facsimile of Sir Walter Raleigh. I have the habit and my doctor tells me that I am more of a nervous wreck without my cigarettes. In the interest of tranquility he has allowed me to continue. Actually, I think it was his tranquility he was more concerned with because he just threw up his hands.

My father died of lung cancer at the age of 62.

Great-grandpa	The Irish-American	My Greek Grandpa	My uncle
	My Dad	The Dutches

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