Sedlak, Andy

I was born the youngest child in a Roman Catholic, farm family with fifteen children, and like my older siblings, I was expected to contribute to my existence. Contribution as defined by my father meant long hours of field work. As a result, I spent much of my childhood walking barefoot through tobacco fields, hoeing weeds and searching for the finger thick tobacco worms that preyed on our crop. When the tobacco fields did not require tending-which was rare-cows needed milking, hay needed baling, and corn had to be picked. But the tobacco fields remain most clear in my mind. To get away from t...