My Grandfather, Billy Gilman..
My grandfather was born William James Gilman, III, on January 20th, 1914 in Richmond, Virginia- to William James Gilman Jr, and Blanche Taylor (King) Gilman. He had a younger sister named Alice. They called him "Billy" for short. Its interesting that there is a Country singer with the same name today . My grandfather was a very independent sort. He wanted to be an actor, or a writer, or a politician, or all three! As he went through college (Richmond Polytechnic Institute- now commonly known as "VCU"), he discovered writing is what he wanted to do. He never quite finished school there. He once said to a close friend: "Why waste time on some four green acres? That is all college is to me". Despite his talent for writing, he also had a penchant for gambling. It all started when he was a young teenager, and a man told him to bet on a horse race . The horse he bet on won. That started his gambling problem. When he was a young man of twenty-three, ...