Who is Whalehead King?

A simple man of eccentric tastes, Whalehead King has a vision both of what life is and what life should be.  He is a cranky Yankee to be sure, in the vein of Israel Putnam, John Hancock and Nathan Hale.  Whalehead King regrets not that he has one life to lose for his country, but that he has but one life to give.  He is a nephew of his Uncle Sam.

Quiet times make for little heroes.  Whalehead King works with what he is given.  As a troubadour of the everyday, Your Man on the Dot celebrates the humdrum and finds epiphanies in the commonplace.  Divinity, as well as the Devil, is in the details.  Days are made of minutia.  There is no ennui when the observed observer is awake in the doldrums that fill most hours. 

A tourist asked, "What is New London, Conn.?  Is this all there is?"  Whalehead King gestured with a sweep of his arm and answered.  He said, "This is the accumulation of lives lived in earnest long before you or I appeared on the scene."  He said, "This is the foundation on which I am building my estate and my legacy."  He said, "We are cherries atop a sundae.  Soon enough someone else will dollop on more whipped cream, in the meantime, I play the role of soda jerk for your edification and entertainment."

Your Man on the Dot has moved away from New London and transplanted to Boston, Mass., putting down roots in the biggest and best neighborhood in this capitol of New England.  Dorchester is a many splendored thing and Your Man is making the most of his situation.  It is as easy as chowder.  Dorchester is very, very good.

Is Whalehead King making time with a new mistress only to abandon her when something new comes his way?  Definitely not.  Boston is not called the Land of the Bean and the Cod without reason.  It is a city for thinking gentlemen and full of fiber.  If anything seems fishy, at least it is nutritious with proper preparation.

Open to the operas that play out on the streets, Whalehead King listens to the stories told in taprooms and coffee shops.  Old men swap tales and gossip at convenience stores.  Young mothers trade observations and insights in the parks.  Dorchester, Mass. is a place full with the burble of news for those who pay attention.  Your Man on the Dot is focused on how his surroundings tick.  It is a complicated watch that keeps Dorchester's time.  Like any clockmaker, Whalehead King has infinite patience for tiny, interlocked details.  Dorchester is an open book once you learn its alphabet.

For many years, Whalehead King has written obsessively as a philosophical exercise for his own pleasure.  Classical precedents have laid the twinned principles of a sound body and a sound mind as the foundation of happiness.  Your Man on the Dot believes this and tries to practice it.  He plies his craft in Dorchester, Mass. for the benefit of all and sundry. 

As is his habit, Whalehead King has written a book.  After a year, it remains a work in progress (Oct. 2008).  It is about the various food-ways that separate Dorchester and the rest of Boston's neighborhoods and subcultures from of the wide world.  It is a collection of impressions and discoveries Mr. King has made in his newly adopted home.