Life with "Poochie" A.K.A. Marion Jones' Father

Book excerpt: iN Poochie’s favorite foods were red beans and rice, neck bones, gumbo with potato salad, and almost always, anytime, fried chicken. His favorite musical selections were “Tenderly”, by Nat King Cole and “When A Man Loves A Woman”, by Percy Sledge. His favorite past time was taking care of his dogs or getting someone else to take care of them. Either way, as long as the dogs had someone to look after them; he enjoyed having more than one at a time. Poochie was a quiet man who kept to himself most of the time. And the rest of the time you never knew what he was thinking, even if you asked him. He could look you dead in the face, without batting an eye, and tell you the biggest lie, while he held a wide smile on his face. This was not so bad. The bad part was that he was able to make you think that you should believe him. Many adults were very reserved about their opinions of Poochie, but the love he had for children was known by adults and children, alike.