The “Thinnest Man in the World,” Harry V. Lewis stood 5 feet, 7 1/2 inches and weighed 80 pounds. He didn’t always hold such a title. Born in 1895 in Leon, Iowa, Lewis was a normal boy until the age of 12. That was when he began to notice weakness in his shoulders and hips. Doctors diagnosed him with a juvenile form of muscular dystrophy.Taylor has said that what is most important for him is a voice or style that reads clearly as the author’s own. As a writer, he fails to create a very distinctive voice in these stories. Josey, his persona, is well read, but basically just a good ol’ boy at heart, a sophisticated city boy who is really just a hillbilly underneath, sort of like a thin man who is really a fat guy.
