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The Red Scarf
In his debut novel, Richard Mason takes us back to 1944 Arkansas through the eyes of Richard, a twelve-year-old with a dream. The dream seems simple enough-to buy a red scarf for Rosalie, the prettiest girl in school. However, simply buying a scarf doesn't usually include skunks, bobcats, robbers, and a cast of eccentric characters such as Wing, the one-armed constable who swings a mean blackjack, and Bubba, a big man who wields an even bigger frying pan.
155 pages, Hardcover
First published October 25, 2007
26 people want to read
About the author
Richard Mason
36 books69 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Richard Mason has always managed to incorporate writing into his accomplished life, whether writing professional reports as a geologist, books in the Sahara Desert, or columns about environmental issues. But it wasnt until six years ago that he started writing seriously when he heard Studs Turkle remark that more writers should write about life. Mason took this comment to heart and began writing remembrances from his childhood in the 1940s and 50s.
As a young boy Mason lived on a small farm in southern Arkansas. He is able to vividly capture an era of American history, before air-conditioning, television and modern technology. His writings reflect a time of brown sunburned feet, shirtless summers and very special country Christmases.
Mason earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in geology from the University of Arkansas. He worked for the King Ranch in South Texas, followed by an overseas assignment on well-sites deep in the Libyan Sahara Desert. Thirty years ago Mason started his own company, Gibraltar Energy in El Dorado, Ark. of which he is currently CEO and President.
In the early 1990s he was the president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and wrote a monthly column covering state environmental issues. Mason also wrote an environmental column which ran in newspapers around the state and hosted an environmental radio show, both called Natural Solutions.
Additionally, he and his wife, Vertis, enjoy restoring historic buildings and have restored 17 buildings where they reside in El Dorado, Arkansas. As a result, the National Main Street organization named it one of the top 15 Main Street communities in the country.
Masons love of writing has become one of the most fulfilling things he has ever done. He reflects on his start many years ago, As I think back to the time, when I sat in a hot trailer in the Libyan Desert writing my first novel, I can truly say my interest in writing, which expressed itself under such meager circumstances, continues today.
Richard Mason has always managed to incorporate writing into his accomplished life, whether writing professional reports as a geologist, books in the Sahara Desert, or columns about environmental issues. But it wasnt until six years ago that he started writing seriously when he heard Studs Turkle remark that more writers should write about life. Mason took this comment to heart and began writing remembrances from his childhood in the 1940s and 50s.
As a young boy Mason lived on a small farm in southern Arkansas. He is able to vividly capture an era of American history, before air-conditioning, television and modern technology. His writings reflect a time of brown sunburned feet, shirtless summers and very special country Christmases.
Mason earned both his Bachelors and Masters degrees in geology from the University of Arkansas. He worked for the King Ranch in South Texas, followed by an overseas assignment on well-sites deep in the Libyan Sahara Desert. Thirty years ago Mason started his own company, Gibraltar Energy in El Dorado, Ark. of which he is currently CEO and President.
In the early 1990s he was the president of the Arkansas Wildlife Federation and wrote a monthly column covering state environmental issues. Mason also wrote an environmental column which ran in newspapers around the state and hosted an environmental radio show, both called Natural Solutions.
Additionally, he and his wife, Vertis, enjoy restoring historic buildings and have restored 17 buildings where they reside in El Dorado, Arkansas. As a result, the National Main Street organization named it one of the top 15 Main Street communities in the country.
Masons love of writing has become one of the most fulfilling things he has ever done. He reflects on his start many years ago, As I think back to the time, when I sat in a hot trailer in the Libyan Desert writing my first novel, I can truly say my interest in writing, which expressed itself under such meager circumstances, continues today.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
January 9, 2022
I love reading authors from my home state of AR & when I discovered this book I couldn’t put it down! I used this as a read-aloud when my kids were small & the rich history & language & depth of characters made it a must-read in my opinion!
November 23, 2025
It is an extremely rare occasion when the printed word can generate moisture in my eyes. However, I grew misty at the description of two boys spending their money for eyeglasses that are a Christmas present for their “Uncle” Hugh. A little historical context is needed to appreciate the significance. The setting is southern Arkansas in the early 1940’s, the two boys (Richard and John Clayton) are white and their “Uncle” Hugh is an elderly black man. When Richard finds a dead mink on the side of the road he is relatively wealthy and can buy Christmas presents for his entire family as well as a beautiful scarf for Rosalie, the girl he wants to woo. However, when he is shopping, he remembers how badly Hugh needs reading glasses so that he can continue to read his bible and this leads him to give up the presents and buy the glasses for Hugh.
There is a great deal of love between the boys and Hugh, he tells them wild stories that keep them spellbound. Hugh lives alone in what amounts to a shack some distance from the small town and is a railroad pensioner. The boys look after him, getting his groceries twice a week and the other members of the community understand and appreciate what they do, sometimes seeing that Hugh gets a little extra.
There is not the slightest hint of racial prejudice in the story, although “colored”, the polite term of the time is regularly used. When the boys tell the optometrist that they are buying the glasses for an elderly colored man that is a friend of theirs, he reduces the price for them. Furthermore, they are also able to buy a Christmas goose for Hugh when the seller reduces the price. In the end, Richard’s good deeds are rewarded and he even gets a kiss from Rosalie.
Some of the other very memorial characters are Bubba, a cook at the local diner, Peg, a one-legged saloonkeeper and Wing, a one-armed police officer with a wicked swing with a blackjack. Richard and John Clayton have a wonderful childhood full of (mis)adventures as they are constantly scheming to make money. There is a sad ending with a plot device that one would not expect from a story positioned in the segregated south of the 1940’s.
There is a great deal of love between the boys and Hugh, he tells them wild stories that keep them spellbound. Hugh lives alone in what amounts to a shack some distance from the small town and is a railroad pensioner. The boys look after him, getting his groceries twice a week and the other members of the community understand and appreciate what they do, sometimes seeing that Hugh gets a little extra.
There is not the slightest hint of racial prejudice in the story, although “colored”, the polite term of the time is regularly used. When the boys tell the optometrist that they are buying the glasses for an elderly colored man that is a friend of theirs, he reduces the price for them. Furthermore, they are also able to buy a Christmas goose for Hugh when the seller reduces the price. In the end, Richard’s good deeds are rewarded and he even gets a kiss from Rosalie.
Some of the other very memorial characters are Bubba, a cook at the local diner, Peg, a one-legged saloonkeeper and Wing, a one-armed police officer with a wicked swing with a blackjack. Richard and John Clayton have a wonderful childhood full of (mis)adventures as they are constantly scheming to make money. There is a sad ending with a plot device that one would not expect from a story positioned in the segregated south of the 1940’s.
February 9, 2012
Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, nothing will go right. In Richard Mason's debut book, The Red Scarf he pens his memoirs of his life as an 11-year-old where his best intentions got him nothing but trouble.
Mason says that he decided to take Studs Terkel's advice to "write remembrances." (Well, he didn't actually get Studs' name right, but it was obvious whom he meant.) While he may have embellished on life in the mid-40s in southwest Arkansas, the book does read like a slice-of-life out of a bygone era.
The Richard of the story tells us his story through a series of dated journal entries, though his writing is all in the vernacular of the region and time. It’s the type of writing that his English teacher might have been horrified at, but for the adult Mason becomes an appropriate literary device to capture the time and setting. Unfortunately, this sometimes causes the prose to become bloated and uncomfortable to read. Mason also has a tendency to weigh the story down with unnecessary detail. It’s as if he wanted to include everything he could possibly remember, whether it furthered the story or not.
Richard reminds the reader of a kinder, more innocent Tom Sawyer. He lacks the iconic boy’s cleverness and shrewdness, but he has no end of schemes that he’s willing to drag his best friend into. His main goal is to raise enough money to buy a red scarf for the girl he’s sweet on. He tries trapping animals, running errands, and even catching criminals. Instead, he stumbles into one disaster after another, some of them frightening, most of them hilarious.
One of the most touching elements of the book is his relationship with “Uncle Hugh,” a old black man whom he and his friend try to help. Their life and his is transformed through the relationship and the boys learn a valuable lesson that is unexpected from a novel set in the deep South during World War II. If Mason is trying to show that not everyone in the South was racist and filled with hatred, he does it with subtlety and beauty.
There is violence in the book and it comes from the rough-handed workers who drink too much and then get into fights. The boys have a fascination with fights and do everything they can to witness them, though when they get caught up in one, their opinions start to change.
The 155-page novel has many enjoyable moments that are great fun to read. It's sometimes slow going because the writing style is often less engaging than the story that is being told.
While it's not a book that I would re-read, I’m glad that I read it once simply because of the story’s charm and redeeming story line.
Mason says that he decided to take Studs Terkel's advice to "write remembrances." (Well, he didn't actually get Studs' name right, but it was obvious whom he meant.) While he may have embellished on life in the mid-40s in southwest Arkansas, the book does read like a slice-of-life out of a bygone era.
The Richard of the story tells us his story through a series of dated journal entries, though his writing is all in the vernacular of the region and time. It’s the type of writing that his English teacher might have been horrified at, but for the adult Mason becomes an appropriate literary device to capture the time and setting. Unfortunately, this sometimes causes the prose to become bloated and uncomfortable to read. Mason also has a tendency to weigh the story down with unnecessary detail. It’s as if he wanted to include everything he could possibly remember, whether it furthered the story or not.
Richard reminds the reader of a kinder, more innocent Tom Sawyer. He lacks the iconic boy’s cleverness and shrewdness, but he has no end of schemes that he’s willing to drag his best friend into. His main goal is to raise enough money to buy a red scarf for the girl he’s sweet on. He tries trapping animals, running errands, and even catching criminals. Instead, he stumbles into one disaster after another, some of them frightening, most of them hilarious.
One of the most touching elements of the book is his relationship with “Uncle Hugh,” a old black man whom he and his friend try to help. Their life and his is transformed through the relationship and the boys learn a valuable lesson that is unexpected from a novel set in the deep South during World War II. If Mason is trying to show that not everyone in the South was racist and filled with hatred, he does it with subtlety and beauty.
There is violence in the book and it comes from the rough-handed workers who drink too much and then get into fights. The boys have a fascination with fights and do everything they can to witness them, though when they get caught up in one, their opinions start to change.
The 155-page novel has many enjoyable moments that are great fun to read. It's sometimes slow going because the writing style is often less engaging than the story that is being told.
While it's not a book that I would re-read, I’m glad that I read it once simply because of the story’s charm and redeeming story line.
November 17, 2012
Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com
Not classically a Christmas story, THE RED SCARF is a look at life in Arkansas in the fall of 1944. The reader meets a young Richard Mason. He is an eleven-year-old sixth-grader. His best friend is John Clayton. He has a dim-witted dog named Sniffer. And he lives in a small town with approximately 650 residents.
Richard has always had a crush on Rosalie. They've almost been boyfriend and girlfriend. But then Richard does something stupid, like any eleven-year-old boy would do. So to get back into her best graces, he decides he will buy her a Christmas present. Richard has it on the good authority of one of Rosalie's friends that the red scarf in Samples Department Store is just what Rosalie would love.
The only problem is that Richard doesn't have enough money to buy the scarf. At least not since his mom made him spend his paper route money on a new pair of shoes. But that doesn't deter Richard. He keeps getting up at 5am to deliver the newspapers to the townsfolk.
Taking place during the span between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, Richard tells the story of his efforts to buy the scarf for Rosalie. During the course of the month, the reader gets to experience Richard's daily life. The reader meets many interesting characters from the town of Norphlet. Among some of the most unique are Uncle Hugh, the old black man in the woods that Richard delivers groceries to every week; Bubba, the large cook at City Café, who's pretty daunting with a skillet; Curly Sawyer, the drunk constable; and many others. The reader also finds out about how accident-prone Richard can be. And the reader gets to experience the hardships on a family during the end of World War II.
Richard's spirit is pure and the story is infective. Mr. Mason weaves a sweet tale in spite of the hardships that his main character has to struggle with. As mentioned in the first sentence, this isn't a traditional Christmas story, but the spirit rings out for a joyous holiday season for everyone.
Not classically a Christmas story, THE RED SCARF is a look at life in Arkansas in the fall of 1944. The reader meets a young Richard Mason. He is an eleven-year-old sixth-grader. His best friend is John Clayton. He has a dim-witted dog named Sniffer. And he lives in a small town with approximately 650 residents.
Richard has always had a crush on Rosalie. They've almost been boyfriend and girlfriend. But then Richard does something stupid, like any eleven-year-old boy would do. So to get back into her best graces, he decides he will buy her a Christmas present. Richard has it on the good authority of one of Rosalie's friends that the red scarf in Samples Department Store is just what Rosalie would love.
The only problem is that Richard doesn't have enough money to buy the scarf. At least not since his mom made him spend his paper route money on a new pair of shoes. But that doesn't deter Richard. He keeps getting up at 5am to deliver the newspapers to the townsfolk.
Taking place during the span between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, Richard tells the story of his efforts to buy the scarf for Rosalie. During the course of the month, the reader gets to experience Richard's daily life. The reader meets many interesting characters from the town of Norphlet. Among some of the most unique are Uncle Hugh, the old black man in the woods that Richard delivers groceries to every week; Bubba, the large cook at City Café, who's pretty daunting with a skillet; Curly Sawyer, the drunk constable; and many others. The reader also finds out about how accident-prone Richard can be. And the reader gets to experience the hardships on a family during the end of World War II.
Richard's spirit is pure and the story is infective. Mr. Mason weaves a sweet tale in spite of the hardships that his main character has to struggle with. As mentioned in the first sentence, this isn't a traditional Christmas story, but the spirit rings out for a joyous holiday season for everyone.
February 10, 2009
Really good story although I got a bit tired of the colloquialism. However, YA readers would probably find that entertaining. The main character was quite likable although he was always getting in trouble. His best friend in the story was really patient. Good book about friendship, love, and sacrifice.
May 27, 2014
This book was kind of cute, kind of slow, kind of good, kind of...I don't know what. I didn't love it, and the dialect was hard to read in my head, although when I read it aloud to my son, it flowed much better.
Overall, it was a good read, and seemed pretty accurate for a book about the south. Enjoyed it, but don't know if I'd recommend. It was okay for what it was.
Overall, it was a good read, and seemed pretty accurate for a book about the south. Enjoyed it, but don't know if I'd recommend. It was okay for what it was.
July 21, 2012
This was a great little read! Reminded me so much of my Daddy's stories of growing up in Monroe, Arkansas when he was a little boy in the 1950s and 1960s. I've heard him tell very similar adventures! Heartwarming and will make you laugh out loud!
August 30, 2011
OMG!!!!!!!!!! this guy is my neighbor!!!!!
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January 1, 2010From Atlanta's August House Publishers. Reminds me of Dr. Ferrol Sams' stories. Looking forward to Mr. Mason's upcoming book about Afghanistan.
October 5, 2012
I loved this book. It is set in the south, about a boy who learns about giving, even though he is poor.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews