The Walking Man

Harry Russell Ninas

Most  people knew him as "The Fuller Brush Man.".  He spent most evenings, 6 days a week, working his territory carrying a case he customized himself.

He spent a lot of time alone, and worked his territory more as a social network than a business route.  The Fuller Brush Man was a relationship builder, but had few if any close friends.

People often sought him out when they needed money.  Some would say he as a "soft touch" and had plenty of money to spare.  They had no idea that his generosity kept his bank account low and his loan debt high.

He would be called an "old timer" today.  His grey hair was short, and parted down the middle.  His closet contained collared shirts and dress pants, no denim in sight.  Menthol cigarettes were for his sinusitis, and a beer a day followed by a shot of vinegar were for his arthritis.  When smoking in public, he would often use the cuff of his pants as an ashtray.  Parts of his salt-and-pepper mustache were yellow from the cigarette smoke and nicotine.

After his retirement from the U.S. Army, he found a Civil Service job at Fort Benning.  He moved to Melbourne, Florida, when I was 3 to take a Civil Service job at Patrick AFB.  He retired from Civil Service and  opened a business called the "What?  Shop."  His shop was in a building opened by someone named Wib (wife Flo) from Missouri.  The What" Shop occupied a space rent-free.

The Fuller Brush man grew up in Stuart, Nebraska with his sisters, Margaret and Bernadine.  Of his three sons from two marriages (the wives were half-sisters), one was killed by a gun shot wound in a bar in Columbus, the oldest is an accountant/realtor, and the youngest is writing this blog.

Now you know everything I know about my Dad, Harry Russell Ninas.  He was a solitary man with few close friends.  What I know about him explains a lot about who I could have been if not for my stepfather who raised me from the age of 5.  Thanks Howard!!!