After many years, late veteran's memories finally come to life

WASILLA — Arthur Allen “Art” Jennings was a man of many words, but it wasn’t until two and a half years before his death that he began to write.

As reported in an April Frontiersman story about Art and his hospice caretakers, Jennings said he was “given the gift to write” after having a “dying and coming back” experience during a three-week stay in an ICU after his right lung collapsed. Once out of the hospital, he launched himself into the written documentation of his life: from growing up in Oregon with an abusive stepfather, to his military career and the brothels of Vietnam. Tales of Alaska fishing trips and near-death experiences were also woven in.

In January of this year, Art sought out an editor for his work to help him smooth the edges of his life story into a publishable manuscript for his family and its future generations. It was then that he came upon a Craigslist advertisement posted by Anchorage schoolteacher Ron Coleman under the pseudonym Adolphus Herndon. Coleman called the ad his “feeble attempt to drum up extra money by assisting anyone needing an editor” in an email to the Frontiersman.

Coleman drafted the ad on Dec. 30 and quickly forgot about it, taking the New Year as an opportunity to go on a “spiritual cleansing,” he said. But when he happened to check for responses to the ad 21 days later, he saw that Jennings was interested, and wanted Coleman to visit him soon. Several days later, Coleman drove out Jennings’s Wasilla home to meet him and discuss the book.

After they made their introductions, Jennings told Coleman he was an atheist — wanting to make sure that didn’t preclude Coleman working with him — and that he was dying.

“I looked at Art with renewed eyes. I had never met anyone before who said they could die any moment. Yet, strangely, this moment solidified our relationship, and I agreed to edit his work,” Coleman wrote.

Over the next three months, the two men went back and forth over certain words and phrases, as well as the title of the book (Art originally wanted “Life’s Lessons: Sex with a Story”). The cover, a wildlife painting by Art’s friend and fellow artist, Diane Drashner, was also a point of contention. Coleman thought it had little to do with the contents of the book.

Drashner said by phone from her Cantwell home that she understood why Jennings chose it.

“To Art, it signifies his life, in a sense,” she said.

Drashner, most recently a children’s book illustrator, said she and Jennings worked together at an Anchorage art gallery in the mid-1990s. They always got along, talking about art, but he never said much to her about his life, and claimed not to have much writing skill.

“He never felt he was a writer,” she said.

But in August, three months after he died at age 71, Jennings’s book, “Life’s Lessons: Memoirs of Sex and Lies, Love and Death,” was published by Czar Struck LLC, with the help of Coleman and Art’s wife, Jessie. Now, the book is available online through Amazon, CreateSpace, and Barnes and Noble, and at Fireside Books in Palmer, where Jessie Jennings will sign copies on Friday, Dec. 11.

Drashner said she was inspired by the couple’s relationship, one that was a long time in coming — decades after they had been high school sweethearts (and a couple marriages later), Art and Jessie were reunited, and were together for almost 27 years.

“He thought the sun rose and set on Jessie, and I was always impressed by that,” Drashner said. “I don’t run into too many guys that are still singing the praises of their spouse after so many years of marriage.”

Jessie Jennings said she didn’t know what kind of book her husband was writing until Coleman sent her the draft. Art had filled her in on some of the things she had missed, but he hadn’t said much about his “dark side.”

“Life’s Lessons” is in many ways an apology, as Art dedicated it to “All the many people who were victims and casualties as a result of my lies of infidelity.”

Jessie said she didn’t hold it against him, but was glad he had found some peace in writing the book.

“I’m just tickled to think that he finally was free to explain himself,” she said.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.