Bill Gomer

The 13-year-old boy sat in the shade of the air-conditioned railcar that he slept in at night. The inch-and-a-half thick harness made hard work for him as he pushed the awl blade through it. Still, his hands were strong. He’d been punching holes in leather since he was five, and he’d found out that he was a leatherworker when he was nine. The Florida heat would probably be harder on the elephants that would have to wear this harness anyway, he thought.

It was only natural that William Gomer would start working with leather at a young age. Bill was born in Stockton, California, in 1940, but the family moved to Tampa, Florida, shortly after his birth. When his mother divorced and remarried saddlemaker Emmet Strickland, both Bill and his sister kept the Gomer name. Emmet and his father were both cobblers, as well as harness and saddlemakers. Emmet was determined that the leather trade would not continue to be the family trade for his stepson. He had witnessed the decline of the horse industry as motor vehicles replaced horse power. Unfortunately, Bill was already helping around the shop and he’d fallen in love with