RARA-AVIS: Roger Torrey bibography

From: Vladimir ( kerwud@yandex.ru)
Date: 20 Oct 2006


Thanks, Richard! Excellent information about Torrey. It's happiness that one more half- forgotten author will have the biography. With big gratitude Vladimir

--- In rara-avis-l@yahoogroups.com, "Richard Moore" <moorich@...> wrote:
>
> I am just now catching up on posts after the Madison Bouchercon and
a
> lovely trip to Italy.
>
> In recent years I've received a great deal of information and
copies
> of documents from Roger's half-brother Don Torrey. Don was a kid
> when Roger died in 1946 and he only learned about the connection
from
> a sister a few years after their father's death in 1967. Their
> common father had three wives with children by each and Roger came
> from the first marriage and Don from the third. The father never
> mentioned the first family to his third.
>
> I had anticipated Don's information being published as a part of a
> Torrey collection but that seems to have stalled. I will pull
> something together that will provide more detail but here are the
> basics.
>
> Roger Denzel Torrey was born in Michigan May 5, 1901 (or May 5,
1900
> depending upon which records are believed) to Neil Baldwin Torrey
and
> Rose May Morey Torrey. Rose divorced Neil and moved to Klamath
> Falls, Oregon. Roger's mother married Harry Poole and together
they
> bought or built several theatres in the area that featured movies
and
> at least one had an orchestra and hosted vaudeville acts.
According
> to various published Klamath Falls histories, Roger played the
piano
> and organ in the theaters and for a time was a manager of one of
> them. Roger's mother was a community leader in Klamath Falls and
was
> elected and served in the Oregon legislature from 1945 to 1947.
>
> Turned down for the U.S. Army because of his age, Roger crossed the
> border, lied about his age and claimed to have been born in St.
John,
> New Brunswick, Canada. He took the oath on October 16, 1918 and in
> his enlistment papers his "Trade or calling" was listed as Logger.
> His army health records list him as 5 ft. 6 and 3/4 inches tall and
> weighing 122 pounds and he had brown hair and hazel eyes. His
> discharge certificate was signed at Vancover, BC and dated December
> 9, 1918.
>
> Roger did own the confectionary shop in 1930 with his then wife
Edna
> working as a sales clerk in the shop.
>
> Roger died in Broward County, Florida with the cause on his death
> certicate listed as "Acute intoxification (alcoholism)" and
> under "other conditions" was listed "cirrhosis of the liver." He
was
> living at 1009 SE 4th Street in Ft. Lauderdale, FL with his wife
> Helen. He is buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Ft. Lauderdale. the
> death certificate lists his birth date as May 5, 1900. Family
> records place the year of birth at 1901.
>
> There's more detail that I hope to bring together in a longer
writeup.
>
> Richard Moore

RARA-AVIS home page: http://www.miskatonic.org/rara-avis/
  Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/

<*> Your email settings:
    Individual Email | Traditional

<*> To change settings online go to:
    http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rara-avis-l/join
    (Yahoo! ID required)

<*> To change settings via email:
    mailto: rara-avis-l-digest@yahoogroups.com
    mailto: rara-avis-l-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     rara-avis-l-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
    http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
 



This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : 20 Oct 2006 EDT