Neal W. Arnold

Neal Arnold is a long time resident of Desoto Texas. After a lifetime in the ground transportation industry he has written his first novel.

WHO IS NEAL ARNOLD

Neal Arnold entered the world the second son born to Lawrence E. Arnold and his wife. He entered the life of his family on August 27, 1950 in Little Rock, Arkansas where his father was stationed. Being a military family the Arnold's were modern day nomads. This included duty postings in Germany with Lt. Col. Arnold ending his Army career at dusty Camp Erwin near Barstow Califorina

When Neal was eight, and of course a Cub Scout of course, his father retired from the Army and returned to San Antonio, Texas. Scouting was his father's great passion. Having been a Boy Scout as a boy he established a Scout Troop anywhere he landed. Taking a job as the Office Manager at the Commissary at Fort Sam Houston Neal's parents settled back into the home they had built before World War II and the Korean War had made the Army their life. By the time my dad had served in both of those conflicts, well it made sense to serve until he could retire. It was this gritty generation with all of it's hopes for the future and some of it's prejudices that formed the world Neal Arnold grew up in.LT. Lawrence E. Arnold

Neal's parents were typical of the Greatest Generation. His mother's family had roots in the German immigration to Texas in the middle 1800s. Poor and working class during the depression she never finished High School as she had to go to work at a San Antonio Rexall Drug Store to help support her family. The family home on El Monte street was built while Larwence worked as an Assistant manager for the Interstate Movie Theater chain.

Around this time he recieved a letter from the War Department, yes that is what it was called before it became the Defense Department. Mr. Arnold held a reserve commission in the Army despite not having finished college. The letter offered him a chance to go on Active Duty. Now this was months before Pearl Harbor. His friends pointed out that he would be crazy to quit a well paying job to serve. My dad chose the Army.

NEAL'S STORY

My older brother, Larry Jr., and I were close growing up. This was becaused we moved often and had to make new friends. We followed in our father's footsteps both of us attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Early on Neal became interested in theatre.

In 1970 Neal found himself a Theatre major at SouthwestTexas State University in San Marcos, Texas. Now this is the point in the biography where a string of Degrees and Academic Achievements follow.Neal Arnold Actor 1997

Restless Neal left school taking various jobs while he pursued parts in theatrical productions. Around this time he was captured by the fetching woman, Karen, who would become his wife. They are still together some forty years later.

The couple moved to the Dallas Area so that Neal could pursue work as an actor. It was around this time Mr. Arnold started driving a Taxicab for the flexibility it offered for auditions. Mr. Arnold performed the the inaugural season of the Dallas Shakespeare Festival as well as other stage productions in the area.

During this time Neal became involved with the Dallas Taxicab Association where he served as President for a year during which the Dallas Fort Worth Internation Airport was forced to allow all taxicab companies to originate trips there, breaking the monolopy locking the black owned taxicab company, Terminal Cab from service there. Later while he was on the Board of Directors they deregulated the number of cab companies allowing anyone who wanted to form a company to do so.

Following that decision Neal became the Director of Services at Lone Star Cab of Dallas. The owner Robert along with Neal and Richard built the small company into one of the most profitable cab companies in the area.

In 1997 Neal Arnold and Karen opened Allpoints Corporate Express as a Airport Sedan and Limousine company serving the Dallas Ft. Worth Area. At seventy Mr. Arnold still operates the company.

Spiritual formation for Neal began with his frindship with a man named Michael, a Hebrew man who experienced something of his own journey back to his spiritual roots. Mike wanted to discuss the Bible stories of the Hebrew Bible. To that end Mr. Arnold read the old King James version of the Bible laying around his house. He has never recovered.

Finding a spiritual home at First United Methodist Church in the heart of downtown Dallas, Mr. Arnold took advantage of the many educational offerings in the form of in depth studies. Always a voracious reader, often history, Mr. Arnold had found an intellectual home.

THE MOABITESS

Having read the Book of Ruth and studied it, Mr Arnold found himself facinated by the story. A vauge notion formed in his head of a play on the subject. After all he was a Theatre major. Looking at movie adaptions it became clear that there is a tendency to adapt the story to our modern concepts of romance. Eventually it became clear that there was too much story here to work as a play.