Lucius Parmalee’s wet ink

 

Lucius Parmalee’s wet ink

     Just the name holds some mystery but Lucius Parmelee was a Canadian writer. Unfortunately what he wrote were bad checks. As far as I know he was not related to anyone in the Sheehy family but was referred to as a man who had strayed from a righteous path and never gave up his larcenous ways. When John Sheehy told tales he sprinkled in the names of people we kids would never know in person but only in legend. There was  T.H. Ledesma, a man who could tune a car with a screwdriver and a pair of pliers, there was daredevil Harry McMillan who we mistakenly said died in stir, Mike Pecarovich who coached the 29-30 Cathedral Phantoms and confidence man Lucius Parmalee. It may be that he ran afoul of Lawrence who was in the banking business or even the family of the Canadian lady who was his bride. It is somewhat likely he ran into grandfather Cyril Penzer who was a first-class barber at the Empress hotel in Victoria who possibly told the tale to his son in law Lawrence. Parmalee was active in B.C. in the early 1920's. Then again, Lucius never ceased his fraudulent forging and lived in California for some time before getting sent to San Quentin and then deported.  He dabbled in bootlegging, embezzlement and even chicken farming but always returned to check or cheque forging as his go to. At any rate Parmelee was infamous enough that a book was written about him and he warranted headlines in the Winnepeg Evening Tribune when he was arrested on the street as a "bank swindler." He knew the holiday season was best for check kiting and eventually earned the nickname of "Christmas" since he found that time of the year ideal for his "writing." In truth Lucius Parmelee was a fascinating thief and sometimes dressed as a cleric which helped in his scams. The memorable name circulated within the Sheehy family as a guy who was not to be trusted. He also never slowed down in his chosen line of work which was cheating banks out of their money. He ended his days in Montreal where another Sheehy lived for a time before settling in groovy Seattle.