Tinker (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780989049757)

This is the story of a lifetime lived in a bygone era - a phenomenally creative era - an age of invention. It is an imagined but a somewhat biographical account of John D. Weaver, known as Tinker in his old age. He was with son of a Prussian born immigrant and he raised in a large family in Central Pennsylvania. He began life fetching water, riding in a wagon, using an oil lamp, and an outhouse. At seventeen he fought with the Union in the War Between the States. He witnessed many changes in his lifetime, including rural households and communities laced together with electrical and telephone lines and indoor plumbing. He was among the first to buy a Ford and a Victrola. He was a watch and clock maker. He was intrigued with the power of water and was inspired to invent a hydraulic ram, addressing the need to pump water to cattle in the fields. He held patents for a hydraulic ram and a music leaf turner. In retirement he built a water wheel in a stream next to his country home. It magically activated small toy figures, such as soldiers and dancers in his parlor. This captivated the imagination of the neighbor children. He used it as a teaching moment. One child, Molly, meets a wizard upon his death.