【正文】 ent kept insisting that I was going to get married to somebody in another town and move away, Ms. Mbogo said. Ms. Mbogo also faced misunderstanding among the town39。s clumsy Keystone Cops would have done, but one can39。d given notice of their wedding date, he said, And where is the young man? — Chaplin, then 54, had cautiously waited outside. As Oona herself was the child of a large family with its own problems, she was well prepared for the battle that Chaplin39。s a relief to know that life eventually gave Charlie Chaplin the stability and happiness it had earlier denied him. In Oona O39。ll be waiting to walk into the sunset with him。 boots were boiled in his film The Gold Rush and their soles eaten with salt and pepper like prime cuts of fish (the nails being removed like fish bones). This physical transformation, plus the skill with which he executed it again and again, is surely the secret of Chaplin39。t have his jokes written into a script in advance。s doubtful if he would have achieved world fame. And the English would have been sure to find it odd. No one was certain whether Chaplin did it on purpose but this helped to bring about his huge success. He was an immensely talented man, determined to a degree unusual even in the ranks of Hollywood stars. His huge fame gave him the freedom— and, more importantly, the money— to be his own master. He already had the urge to explore and extend a talent he discovered in himself as he went along. It can39。d e down in the world. But if he39。s how foreigners behaved, wasn39。t sport tiny moustaches, huge pants or tail coats: European leaders and Italian waiters wore things like that. Then again, the Tramp39。s ic beggar didn39。s Tramp a bit, well, crude. Certainly middleclass audiences did。s old red stockings cut down for ankle socks. His mother was temporarily declared mad. Dickens might have created Charlie Chaplin39。 son. My family39。am, no, sir, thank you and please get a yawn from kids today who are encouraged instead by cursing on television and in music. They simply shrug off the rewards of a good name. The good name passed on by my father and maintained to this day by my brothers and sisters and me is worth as much now as ever. Even today, when I stop into Buck Davis39。t. Nearly one out of three births in America is to a single mother. Many of these children will grow up without the security and guidance they need to bee honorable members of society. Once the social ties and mutual obligations of the family melt away, munities fall apart. While the population has increased only 40 percent since 1960, violent crime in America has increased a staggering 550 percent— and we39。s respect and trust. As I heaved the heavy freight into the bed of the truck, I did so with ease, feeling like a stronger man than the one that left the farm that morning. I had discovered that a good name could furnish a capital of good will of great value. Everyone knew what to expect from a Williams: a decent person who kept his word and respected himself too much to do wrong. My great grandfather may have been sold as a slave at auction, but this was not an excuse to do wrong to others. Instead my father believed the only way to honor him was through hard work and respect for all men. We children— eight brothers and two sisters— could enjoy our good name, unearned, unless and until we did something to lose it. We had an interest in how one another behaved and our own actions as well, lest we destroy the name my father had created. Our good name was and still is the glue that holds our family tight together. The desire to honor my father39。 sons. They broke the mold when they made that man. The farmer nodded in a neighborly way. I was filled with pride. James Williams39。s face didn39。d seen my friends ask for credit and then stand, head down, while a storeowner enquired into whether they were good for it. Many store clerks watched black youths with the assumption that they were thieves every time they even went into a grocery. My family was honest. We paid our debts. But just before harvest, all the money flowed out. There were no new deposits at the bank. Cash was short. At Davis Brothers39。s wheel sprayed in the sunshine making a rainbow over the canal and I often stopped there on my way to bathe and cool off for a spell— natural air conditioning. The sun was so hot, I did not need a towel as I was dry by the time I climbed the clay banks and crossed the road ditch to the truck. Just before town, the road shot along the sea where I would collect seashells or gather seaweed beneath the giant crane unloading the ships. This trip was different, though. My father had told me I39。s call to have the woman pay for damaging his name, and instead fined Wilde. He ended up in jail after refusing to pay, and even worse, was permanently expelled from the wider circle of public favor. When things were at their worst, he found that no one was willing to risk his or her name in his defense. His price for remaining true to himself was to be left alone when he needed his fans the most. Curiously enough, it is those who fail that reap the greatest reward: freedom! They enjoy the freedom to express themselves in unique and original ways without fear of losing the support of fans. Failed