For one brief summer....at a low-income district pool in Wilmington, Delaware....Joe was a pool lifeguard.
To be honest....Joe was the only white guy pool lifeguard that summer at the Brown-Burton-Winchester pool.
The story generally goes.....there were a dozen lifeguards hired that summer, and he was there as one.
Cornpop? Actual real character.....tough local kid of the district.
How did this confrontation occur? Well....at the time....Ester Williams was a black legendary swimmer, and Joe made some comparison at the pool that 'so-and-so' (Cornpop) swam like her. Cornpop got all peeved and upset....threatening to 'cut' Joe. After this use of the Ester Williams insult....Joe went to the Cornpop insult, which apparently stuck.
Cornpop around today? No....died in 2016....from natural causes apparently.
The question I have....from this one brief summer job....did Joe save anyone?
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