The Story of Timmy Sprite is written in 57 stanzas. Some years after completing the story, the author took it upon himself to illustrate each stanza in ink and watercolor, a daunting task for one not disciplined in this sort of thing. After finishing eighteen illustrations he put the task aside feeling he had bitten off more than he could chew. Twenty five years later, after retiring from the insurance business and moving to the summer retreat in Rhode Island, he began to woo a lovely lady he had known for thirty years. In his efforts to impress her, he hauled out a dozen unpublished short stories he had written, she being an average reader. One of those stories was Timmy Sprite. So taken was she with the piece, she urged him to finish the illustrations. He did and soon they were married.