Difference between revisions of "William H. Cooke"

Raised by wolves. Although the precise circumstances of Mr. Cooke's birth are not known, it is inferred that much of his easiest infancy was spent deep in the forests of [[Appalachia]]. His re-emergence into humanity took place in the opening weeks of the Reagan presidency, where on the wrong side of the railroad tracks beyond the city of [[Baltimore]] a poor coloured lady, on hearing a great disturbance in the chicken coop at night, shot-gun in hand found several hens missing (the wolves having fled) and a yowling snapping creature with matted hair caught in the corner. Taking him for a little negro boy (in his very dirty state) she subdued the child and brought him into the house. Much to her astonishment, on washing him (a necessary step) she discovered he was in fact a little white boy, or as close white as can be commonly found in those parts. Subsequently showing her employer, Mrs. Cooke, a respectable widow lady of Baltimore, it was thought best she she adopt him and bring him up as a gentlemen. The early kindness show to him by his humble rescuer gave Mr. Cooke a lifelong love and respect for the coloured people of America, in whose defence he has worked tirelessly as an attorney.

Many amusing anecdotes exist about Mr. Cooke's childhood in Baltimore, no doubt influenced by his time in the wilderness. On one occasion while playing in the beck near the family home, he caught and killed a rattlesnake and had already eaten some significant part of the tail by the time his adoptive mother wrested it from him. On another occasion, having caught a series of street cars across town he was found in the wild bluffs that overlook the city, wearing the skins of wild animals and eating a possum. And who, knowing him in his earlier years, can forget his dog Hooper, whom he found wandering behind the greyhound stadium one night and whom for many years was his loyal companion among the shady glens around his home and places of refreshment.  

Having a natural aptitude for lettering he was enrolled in days school while still young and, impressing the school prelate Platin