by Edee Kulper

Special to the Sounder

If you don’t know Frank Loudin, you’re missing out. He may have just turned 93 (on July 6), but his youthfulness precedes him. Not only is he lighthearted, funny, and highly skilled as an artist, he is now the published author of a book of short stories written over the past few decades called “Yarns: Stories From the Way We Were, Based on a Few Actual Facts.”

Frank’s humorous stories span everything from growing up in the 1930s and ’40s (think first love, first kiss, first few seconds of game time on the clock on the varsity basketball team) and selling his paintings alongside quirky artists at an annual outdoor art show on Catalina Island to road-tripping with his beloved Jannie and hanging out for morning coffee with Orcas Island’s “Teezer’s Geezers.”

Mark your calendars for Thursday, July 20 from 11 a.m. to noonish at Darvill’s Bookstore, where Frank will introduce his new book and hold an author’s signing.