Front cover continues: Dedicated To My Son. Poems and Songs on War and Peace.
Inscribed on the copyright page: "Wm Neill The Poet - My Best Wishes To Dr. Schless"
"Dr. Schless" was Dr. Guy Lacy Schless, graduate of Penn Charter, Stanford, and Jefferson Medical College, a practicing endocrinologist for 55 years at Pennsylvania Hospital who died in September 2011. His wife, Nancy Halverson Schless, born in Kingston, N.Y. received her undergraduate and Master's degrees from Wellesley College, attended the University of Paris, and served on the faculty of Wheaton College prior to marrying Schless in 1952. She was the daughter of the prominent architect, Harry Halverson (1891-1988), of the firm of Teller and Halverson, in Kingston, N.Y. and was herself a published architectural historian and (for three years before developing severe glaucoma) associate professor at Temple University. She died in November 2002. She and her husband were well known in literary and architectural circles.
44 p.: 2 in-text photographs; 23 cm. (9 inches). Green stiffened, stapled wrappers, with illustrated front cover. Inscribed by the author.
First Edition, Inscribed by the Autho

"With my versatile mind I have been asked to write a short story as an introduction and some things regarding my past life, and to give the reader of my little book the satisfaction of knowing Then and Now, as I have entitled it. Then I was too young to realize I had talent; Now, I am too old to improve enough to be famous. But I am endeavoring to put on the market and to enlighten the reader as to what started my versatile mind, though having been out of school since a boy of twelve and cast away to the four corners of the world through the death of my parents. I will try now in my own simple way to explain some episodes which I am sure will be interesting to you all pertaining to my past, but not in any way the full explanation of my sufferings, hardships and adventures.
I have visited Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Ceylon, Singapore, Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Portugal, Spain, Uraguay, Chile, Peru, Equador, Canada, Iceland, Formosa and most of the principal islands of the world, also Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France. I was shipwrecked three times in my sea travels, wounded twice and gassed in World War I, had twelve operations trhough accidents and ailments.
Previous to writing this book, I composed one hundred and fifty-two pieces of poetry and rhymes for charity in World War I. Now through misfortune, I am looking forward to this book Then and Now to bring my boy, in the future, God permit, compensation for his dad's studies, and to enable him, a cripple, to start off in some kind of business whenever he is able to walk again, so he won't be dependent on others after I pass on. This boy of mine, having been in hospitals for the past ten years, I want to think while I am here alive that I have done my part as a father and prepared for his future. He is twenty-give years old and one swell American boy, born in Falmouth, Mass. on July 1, 1928 (his dad born in England Aujgust 28, 1888).
Now in conclusion I hope you will try to see how simple it is to do the right deed in the right time. Though I am sixty-five years old, a grand-dad and sometimes a fool, but more or less all of us have these weaknesses, and if we had not them, we just would not be honest" [from the Preface]