Category Archives: characters

All About Stretch

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Murphy “Stretch” Dwyer

Mini-Bio:
“Stretch”, as he became known in Middle School, was born to James and Janet Dwyer on January 1st, 1927, in Escagoula Point, MS. Stretch was the last of four: Sisters Georgia and Louise, and brother Robert. His dad worked with Ron’s dad at the same plant, and also served in the Navy during World War I.
From a young age, Stretch was interested in finance. He ran a lemonade stand before anyone else in the neighborhood and constantly tried to make, and use, money. He got a full scholarship to Mississippi State to play basketball and graduated with honors in the summer of 1949. He returned to Escagoula Point and began working as an accountant for many of the businesses around town that were finding themselves needing just a bit of help during the expansion the town was seeing.
During this time, Ron was out of town — earning his own degree and serving in the Air Force — and Stretch began chatting up an old high school friend, Lynn. They hit it off, and in 1953, they were married. With her support Stretch started his own accounting firm and began to work almost exclusively for the Donnelly family’s many businesses.
Where Ron and Kate had a close friendship, Murphy didn’t get along much with Kate Nass. Lynn didn’t care for the Private Eye, either. But when Winston Cavanaugh called him after Kate’s death, he helped handle the estate from a financial perspective.

Miscellanea:
- Enjoys a good cigar with Ron, but not often on his own.
- Grew tall, fast, in middle school, which is how he earned his nickname.
- Didn’t much care for basketball, other than the fact he could usually beat Ron at it.
- Has flaming red hair and, if he grows it out, a flaming red beard.

All about Ronnie

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Ronald Cavanaugh

Mini-Bio:
Ron was born to Winston and Irene Cavanaugh (nee Bosarge) on June 15th, 1927, in Escagoula Point, Mississippi. He was the first of three children: his brother, Thomas, was a year behind, and his sister, Jean, came two years after that. Up until he left for college, Ron lived his entire life in Escagoula Point. The family never had much money, but the children never went without.
At 17, Ron began attending the University of Mississippi, considering himself to have missed out on the second War to End All Wars. Just shy of his twenty-first birthday, he graduated ahead of schedule with a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. He then enrolled in the Air Force’s Flight Training School and became a pilot. His unit, the 49th Fighter Wing, was a significant part of the Korean War effort of the United States.
His first major and final flight was at the battle of Sunon Airfield. His plane took anti-aircraft chaff, and he had to land just five minutes after taking off, barely making it and sustaining multiple small wounds. The worst damage was to his knee, which took quite some physical therapy at Air Force Station Molesworth before he shipped back to the good old United States.
When he came back to find Kate murdered, and no leads or any real interest on the part of the police, Ron took it on himself to find out what happened. This was against the advice of his friends Murphy “Stretch” Dwyer and Lynn Dwyer, his former girlfriend and wife of Murphy.

Miscellanea:
- Smokes cigarettes on occasion, but prefers cigars.
- Drinks anything, but prefers whisky, specifically Scotch and Bourbon.
- Favorite color is grey.
- Drives a bright blue Dodge Meadowbrook, or a 1952 Norton Big Four he picked up in England.

Audrey Carmen

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Some background information on Audrey Marie Carmen, one of my favorite characters to write:

Mini-Bio:
Audrey was born to Richard and Lynn Carmen (nee Mason) on April 10th, 1929, in Huntsville, Alabama. She was the last of five children: Richard Jr., Donald (Duke), Amanda Lynn Johnston (nee Carmen), and George “Babe” Carmen. When Audrey was 12, the family moved to Birmingham where her father worked as a manager for a soda company. Her parents were always thrifty, even when Richard Sr.’s success brought them a fair fortune.

Audrey attended Birmingham-Southern for four years (1947-1951), where she studied English, eventually graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in English. During her time at Birmingham-Southern she participated many of the plays and productions. This followed a high school career filled with acting roles.

Despite her parents wishes to the contrary, from a young age Audrey found herself falling in with a bad crowd. She got in more fights than any of the other girls at her high school and was almost expelled from Birmingham-Southern at one point for her involvement in a prank during an atheltic event. This trouble continued even after college: Audrey worked in Birmingham for a year under her father’s supervision, but kept getting into trouble. In 1952, she skipped town and began working for her mother’s cousin, Chet Mason, in Escagoula Point.

Chet had, by this point, been injured by Kate Nass and was barely able to look after himself, so Audrey’s arrival was good for him, and his business. Her father arranged a house for her in Escagoula Point.

Miscellanea:
- Despite the Phillip-Morris company attempting to lure men to the Marlboro brand, Audrey still smokes her old favorites. She picked up the nasty habit as a teenager to get back at her parents.
- Her favorite alcoholic drink is red wine, specifically Cabernet Sauvignon, but she can throw back beer and whisky too. She picked up those habits in college.
- Her favorite color is red.
- Drives a red, 1954 Dodge Royal (as of 1954, previous cars were other red sporty vehicles).