THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, August 2, 1994 TAG: 9408020293
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAC DANIEL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Short : 45 lines
Somewhere out there, between the brittle pages of a used book, sits 80-year-old Philip Foxwell's nest egg.
Neatly creased between the pages lies money made from repairing lawn mowers, saving retirement checks, and selling knickknacks at the local flea market.
The money totaled more than $600, though Foxwell said it could be as high as $1,000. He just can't recall.
Rather than place the money in his savings account, Foxwell neatly stuffed the bills between the pages of an unread hardcover book. He'd been making such book deposits for about two months.
But this frugality was a mystery to Foxwell's 71-year-old wife, Mildred. On Sunday, after taking the book from atop her husband's dresser, she sold it - money and all - at the Flea Market of Norfolk on North Military Highway.
Asking price? Three bucks.
``I've run into a few bargains out there,'' said Philip Foxwell, ``but I've never struck anything like this. How in the world that book got by me, I'll never know.''
Married 54 years, the Foxwells were saving the money to pay this month's bills, feed their African finches, buy a new carburetor for the riding mower and spread the meager wealth around to their children and grandchildren.
``Six hundred dollars doesn't really hurt,'' said Foxwell, a retired aircraft mechanic at Norfolk Naval Air Station. ``But it's not pleasant to lose this kind of money.''
The couple must now wait to see if the man who bought the book will know what that means.
As for the book, Philip said, ``I don't think I ever checked out what it was all about.''
Mildred even recalls telling the buyer: ``You're going to be rich from this book.''
Its title? ``How to Make Money.'' by CNB