ORDER THE BOOK
HARDCOPY (SMALL STORES; support the indies!):
Ampersand Books
Bleak House Books
Drury Lane Books
Lift Bridge Books
Shakespeare & Company
HARDCOPY (LARGE STORES):
Amazon (hardcover, color)
Amazon (paperback, color)*
Amazon (paperback, b&w)
Barnes & Noble
AUDIO BOOK:
Audible
Apple iTunes Books
eBOOK:
Kindle
*Paperback color version is available exclusively through Amazon
REVIEWS:
"A very interesting mystery; a very satisfying set of conclusions. The ultimate summer read...in any season."
—Evan Dawson, host, Connections
"This touching memoir tells the story of a grandson in search of the lost legacy of his grandfather...along the way, Allison encounters knowing librarians, Amish watch repairers, and hidden relations he didn't know he had. But perhaps most significantly, the journey cements Allison's understanding of himself."
"An interesting, layered story on human and horological levels."
—Andrew Dervan, NAWCC Silver Start Fellow (full review)
WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW: If you read the book, the author invites you to write your own review on the social media site of your choice. Every little bit helps to share Charley's story!
"Eileen Reads" photo credit: Patrick Hundley
If you find my grandfather's lost-and-found timepiece collection intriguing,
please help me spread the word with a Facebook share...and thank you, sincerely!
FULL REVIEWS
Andrew Dervan, NAWCC Silver Star Fellow
I met Greg Allison at the 2024 Ward Francillon Time Symposium, and we spoke about his recently published book, My Grandfather’s Clocks. I remembered that he had written an article in the March/ April 2023 Watch & Clock Bulletin about finding the timepieces constructed by his grandfather, who was an exceptionally talented watch repairer. The timepieces were restored by Mahlon Shetler, a gifted watchmaker. I decided to purchase the book and read the full story.
Greg was always curious about his grandfather, Charles “Charley” Allison, and the miniature grandfather clock that he had given to his son—Greg’s father—as a wedding present. Greg’s dad wound it incorrectly and broke the clock, so it sat on the shelf broken for almost 50 years. Greg remembered the stories that his father had told him many years earlier about his grandfather making 13 special clocks to demonstrate his watchmaking skills to impress customers at his store in Sherman Oaks, CA. The stories raised three significant questions for Greg: Had any of these clocks survived? What had his grandfather really been like? What had happened in his family to lose track of the clocks? These questions initiated Greg’s multiyear search for answers. Complicating the search efforts was the fact that the family was fractured by his grandfather’s nasty divorce: he had left his ex-wife in Rochester, NY, and moved to California with his girlfriend, whom he later married.
This book documents Greg’s journey to answer questions about his grandfather, his family, and the clocks. It is an interesting, layered story on human and horological levels.
The story really began in 2017 after his father had passed and Greg was willed the broken miniature clock. His first interest was getting it repaired; he joined the NAWCC and showed it to a number of watch and clock repairers. They told him that he needed to find a special watchmaker to repair it. Greg finally located Mahlon Shetler and brought it to him for repair. Mahlon carefully disassembled it, commented on its clever construction, and explained the problem was a broken winding gear. Greg had the broken gear laser-welded, and Mahlon reassembled the mini grandfather clock.
Greg talked with surviving family members to learn details about his grandfather, but so much time had elapsed that little was remembered and animosity remained over the divorce. Greg tried online searches and posted requests on YouTube. He made multiple trips to California with very little success in locating information, and COVID interrupted his travels for a year.
His lucky break came in 2022, when he was contacted by a step-granddaughter from Charley’s fourth marriage. She lived in Montana and had seen his YouTube post and finally tracked him down. She had 11 of the clocks, along with many family photographs. Greg drove to Montana to meet her and see the clocks, which she generously gave to him. Greg took two or three at a time to Mahlon, who disassembled, cleaned, and reassembled them. Greg photographed the disassembly process for each one, documenting the unique features. Mahlon noted how they were cleverly constructed and expressed his great admiration for the clocks and for Charley Allison as a craftsman.
Greg had inherited Charley’s guest book from his store in California, and it contains hundreds of comments from his customers, many of whom were famous in Hollywood and beyond. The beginning of each chapter in the book includes one of these comments, highlighting the widespread appreciation for Charley’s skills.
Greg’s compelling book contains four interwoven stories that document his amazing journey: finding out about his grandfather, learning more about his own immediate family, locating 12 clocks produced by his grandfather, and connecting with a part of the family he never knew existed.