YOU LIVE AND LEARN. THEN YOU DIE AND FORGET IT ALL: 
Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules and Men

by William Ferris (1992)

Narrated by Michael Kramer
Books On Tape Inc (1995) Book #3670. 0001265898/1985444-001.
Out of print.

I could not find this recording in digital format,so I converted my copy
of this recording to MP3. From audio cassette (Nakamichi Dragon) to CD 
(Pioneer PDR-555RW) to MP3 (iTunes 8, 96kbps VBR, Mono (effectively 50kbps).

Dolby NR was NOT used - you can post-process or equalize to your liking.

Cheers, FerraBit
February 2009

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Introduction
Chapter 1 - School Days
Chapter 2 - Dog Days
Chapter 3 - Up and Down That Dog
Chapter 4 - Rattlesnakes, Coyotes, and Wild Horses
Chapter 5 - Eight Thousand Horses
____________________

   Ray Lum (1891-1977) was an American original, a one-of-a-kind 
figure. In this book he speaks his mind in a colorful folk 
dialect and tells of the world in which he presides. Mules were 
his main interest. His home and his auction barn were in 
Vicksburg, Mississippi, but in trading he fanned out over twenty 
states and even into Mexico. Over several years William Ferris 
tape recorded many long conversations with Lum. In them Lum 
gives the ins and outs of livestock auctioneering, cheery 
memories of rustic Deep South culture, and a philosophy of life 
that is grounded in good horse sense.

 Review From Publishers Weekly
  Born in 1891 in rural Mississippi, Ray Lum traveled the South 
for 60 years as a respected livestock trader and auctioneer, 
collecting rich experiences he retold--even at universities and 
folk festivals--in a colloquial, humorous and generous voice. 
Ferris, coeditor of the Encyclopedia of Southern Culture , 
interviewed Lum (who died in 1977), and notes that his life 
"bridged the disparate worlds of black and white, of old and 
new, of South and West." Lum's tales, organized into six 
chapters of narrative, might better be chopped into episodes, 
but they remain valuable for those interested in such folklore. 
His language is vivid (a cemetery is a "marble orchard") and his 
voice wise (when he loses money on an early deal, the lesson is, 
"You don't absolutely have to have, you can do without"). Among 
many adventures, Lum bested cheating gypsies who offered a 
pretty but vicious horse, ate barbecued rattlesnake, made a deal 
for wild Texas horses and barely avoided the outlaws Bonnie and 
Clyde. "I'm fine," said Lum in his old age. "I just need to have 
my speedometer set back." This book lets him live on. 

 Review From Library Journal
  Ferris serves a slice of Southern life in this presentation 
of the wit and wisdom of Ray Lum, livestock trader and 
auctioneer. Born in 1891 in rural Mississippi, Lum bartered 
horses and mules throughout the South and Southwest. He recalls 
his travels and life experiences with the passion and color 
characteristic of a consummate storyteller. These personal 
reflections are a tribute to a way of life gone by and a 
preservation of its memory. The volume opens with a foreword by 
Eudora Welty [not on audio book] and concludes with an extensive 
bibliographic essay and endnotes. Full of humor and the drama of 
life, this book will delight a wide range of readers.

____________________

Published in print:

Anchor; 1st edition (March 1, 1992)
ISBN-10: 0385419260  ISBN-13: 978-0385419260 
http://books.google.com/books?id=4O94AAAAMAAJ

and

Mule Trader: Ray Lum's Tales of Horses, Mules, and Men
By William R. Ferris, Ray Lum
Contributor Eudora Welty
Published by Univ. Press of Mississippi, 1998
ISBN 1578060869, 9781578060863 
http://books.google.com/books?id=lR3FO2RPJQAC
____________________


See the film "Ray Lum: Mule Trader" By William Ferris (aka Bill Ferris) 
http://www.folkstreams.net/film,97

Other Links: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_R._Ferris 
http://www.amazon.com/You-Live-Learn-Then-Forget/dp/0385419260