He drove like a madman & always watched my back

John Rupp
Originally uploaded by Brite light photos.

BURLINGTON, Vermont - Back in that halcyon final year of high school - and for the next couple of years - I witnessed John Rupp drive his automobiles at speeds that didn't just defy New York state traffic laws, they sometimes defied the laws of physics.

But in all of that time - save one - he and his vehicles came through unscathed, though people he passed (frequently on the wrong side of the road or on the shoulder) or people driving in the other direction, probably needed oxygen or a double dose of their nitroglycerin after the encounter.

When John dropped out of college in Florida and I dropped out of Villanova at the end of the fall 1967 semester, the plan was to make some money and go to the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. What a grand adventure that was going to be! We would be like Alexander Scott and Kelly Robinson from I Spy!

But then we met these girls at the Gloves and, well, there went that idea.

Adios Mexico! It took me 30 more years to finally make it there. And I can't even remember the girls from then that we were so truly madly deeply in love with!

Today, I found out that John has been battling cancer for the last few years. In typical Rupp fashion, he didn't tell me, or very many other people. But it's gotten more serious now - and he is probably sooooooo pissed off at me for publishing this, that it's a good thing he's propped up in a chair in his house in Burlington, Vermont, yelling at the morons on the Fox Nut Network.

At least that's what he was doing this morning when I called and chatted with him. He was in pretty good spirits, said the drugs had the pain under control and if he wasn't in pain, the drugs would have him laid out cold.

We are all at the age where things like cancers and other illnesses are catching up to us. Still it's a shock to hear it.

At Snug Harbor one summer night in 1967 or 1968 - the same night that John's mother's red '65 Mustang went airborne into a ditch - John came dancing across the floor with a lady friend to warn me that my ex-girlfriend was in the bar. She was looking for me because she wanted to deliver a message. The last message had been a pitcher of beer dumped on my head at the Pastime in Lakewood, so he and I beat feet out of the bar and into the night, laughing.

We watched each other's backs a lot in those days.

Today, I can't watch John's back from California, and I feel kind of helpless. But I thought I could at least post his contact information here, in case you want to send him a letter, telling him how much trouble he is going to be in if he doesn't come to our Class of '66 Reunion in a few months.

It's just few months, Kelly, and we (the entire Class of '66) insist that you and your wife Paula bring your cute four-year-old daughter, too.

We'll see you then, amigo.

Contact information:

John Rupp and Paula Provencher
201 Brand Farm Drive South
Burlington, VT 05403
ph: 802-658-3640

John's email: johnrupp@mail.com
Paula's email: udabest@hotmail.com