A new novel is out and a road trip being planned

   
   POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - Last month my third novel finally was published, I say finally because it was more than two years in the writing, editing and eventually making it to print. Some of that was my fault, some blame can be attributed to a publisher in New York City.
      But The Devil's Pipeline is out there and I hope some of you pick it up and give it a look-see.
     The pre-publication reviews were all good. I'm waiting for people to start posting their comments on Amazon.com. Perhaps I should say nervously waiting?
     The book has a strong Kent State connection - specifically a connection to the shooting in May of 1970. That horrible incident is probably burned in your brains as firmly as it is into mine. 
     It wasn't until I was done with the book and was writing an author's note prior to publication that I realized I had fled Lakewood/Jamestown August 1970 in part because the toxic political climate where I was working that May became unbearable after the Kent State shootings.
     It was no accident I landed in California in 1970, or that the politics nearly 50 years later still seem a good fit. At least for me.
     But for the last three years I've criss-crossed the country three times, stopping often in small towns, out-of-the way spots and with a lot of touristy places on my itinerary. 
      Actually, to say I ever have a real itinerary is probably a stretch. I have a general idea when I travel but try not to let progress toward destination destroy the journey.
     

Possibly the only photo in existence of me holding a water bottle

The journey this summer, dragging The Red Writer travel trailer again, is planned (ouch, another word I rarely use!) to be a long looping trip across the Southwest, Deep South, then up the Eastern Seaboard into New England. 
     Possibly that will also include a sojourn into Nova Scotia and the Maritime provinces of Canada. Then in late August, after going to (and writing about!) Woodstock 50 in Watkins Glen, the balance of the trip is likely to be up across the Northern U.S. with stops Michigan, the Dakotas, Montana and, well, who knows.
     Somewhere in all these miles I hope to catch up with some of you. 
     Really.  I don't know about you, but I wonder how many of these cross-country jogs I have left in me. Best not to think that way.
     Last summer I had a great visit with Dan Sundquist at his lakeside home in New Hampshire. Then as I was skedaddling back across country I stopped and swapped lies, er tales, with Bud Hooper in Lakewood.
     Unbelievably, I forgot to take photos of us together.
     I'll try to do better this summer.

Stay safe and healthy, classmates.

'Well, you know. A man of your age?'

   
     POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - The recent passing of Bill Taylor and my impending 70th birthday in July have been a one-two punch to the belly in thinking about mortality.
     And punches to the belly - where a month ago I had two hernia repairs done - are very, very unwelcome, thank you very much.
     Anyone else notice that all that I seem to be able to post on this Class of '66 website are details about which classmate has just passed away? Jaysus!

   This past winter I caught a cold (and probably pneumonia) that almost did me in. Same thing happened two years ago. But my emergency room doctor, (Doogie Howser's older brother) used an expression that my wife Sylvia is soooooo sick of hearing me repeat.
    It does get a good laugh from my kids and friends when I throw it out there.
   I was in the ER getting the once over with symptoms of flu - high fever, some nausea, aches, pains. After nearly buying the farm two years ago with a bout of pneumonia, I don't take any chances with respiratory stuff.
   After being poked and prodded, the doctor shoved a long cotton-swab tipped instrument into my sinus cavity that went so far up I thought he was trying to take a brain cell sample. (Hold the brain sample jokes for the moment.)
   At that point, I thought he had to be done.
   But after retracting the probe, he pushed and prodded some more and then ordered an EKG.
   Say what? EKG?
   I bristled slightly, given that he could see on his computer I had had full heart workup done just a few months before when I had landed in a different ER with chest pains. (Acid-reflux can be a real bitch, friends.) I passed all the heart tests with flying colors.
   But in a move no doubt taught at medical schools, he put his hand on my arm and very paternally explained he really had to do the EKG.
   "After all," he said, "well, you know, a man of your age?"
     A man of my age. Doesn't that about about sum it up!
     So stay healthy classmate amigos - as healthy as you can. And anytime to you need a get-out-of-jail-free card to avoid something?     
    Just say, "You know, a man (or woman) of my age..."
    Did I say stay healthy? I did. Well, one more reminder can't hurt.

Class of '66 classmate Bill Taylor has passed away

   
   WATERVLIET - Class of '66 Classmate Bill Taylor passed away in April, apparently of a heart attack.

     Bill was 69.

     According to his younger brother Pete, no services are planned and as per Bill's wishes he was cremated.

     Bill was not doing well - health-wise - and was living alone at the time of his death.
     
     That's all the details we have at the moment.

Class of '66 classmate Chris Henderson has passed away

   ROCHESTER, NY - Southwestern Central Class of '66 classmate Chris Henderson passed away January 23. His obituary (listed below) says it was "following a lengthy battle with cancer."
   Chris was the editor of The Trojan (school newspaper) our senior year. And if I remember correctly, he was instrumental in convincing faculty advisor Calvin Hanson to allow John Rupp and I to write a gossip column called "The Eavesdroppers."
   Rupp and I had a great time writing it, though more than once we were threatened with bodily injury for what we had posted about some goings on at the Lakewood Drive-In.
   Chris could have nixed that column at the outset. But he seemed to have a rebellious side to him that didn't show very often, except in quiet ways.

   My other memory of Chris - one that still makes me smile, was during some kind of end of the year show that the class put on. 
   In the skit, Chris played Tom Priester. At the time, then Mr. Priester got a ration of ribbing all the time for teaching girls' PE.
    On one side of the stage was a curtain with bare arms waving and voices saying, 
"Oh Mr. Priester, Mr. Priester, I need a towel, please!!!!"
   The arms and voices, of course, meant to represent the girls' shower room - and just another day in the locker room with the high school girls in his PE classes.
   Chris came on stage from the opposite side, wearing a blindfold and baseball cape, walking tenuously all the across until he clumsily tossed the towels to the waving arms.
   But when he turned and walked back across the stage, you see his blindfold only covered ONE EYE.
   And as Chris walked back across the stage - with the audience just roaring with laughter - Chris had a grin on his face I can still remember.
   Rest in peace Judge Chris. Rest in peace. 

===========================

OBITUARY 

     Christopher Charles Henderson, formerly of Indian Head, Maryland and St. Thomas USVI, passed away in Rochester, NY on January 23, 2018 following a lengthy battle with cancer. He was born in New Rochelle, New York on May 27, 1948. Chris had a great sense of humor and enjoyed playing practical jokes on family and friends.

     You always knew he was up to something by the twinkle in his eyes. He loved travelling to various parts of the world, spending his winters in St. Thomas, keeping up with political news and the stock market and was always willing to share his opinions. He is predeceased by his parents, Charles F. and Jeanne R. Henderson, and his favorite aunt, Frances Henderson. Chris is survived by siblings Candace Larson of Lakewood, NY and Timothy P. (Susan) Henderson Sr. of Pittsford, NY as well as nieces and nephews Kerstin (John) Kenty of Clearwater, Florida, Shannon (Stan Horan) Larson of Kona, Hawaii and Deirdre (Blake) Luvon of Twisp, Washington, T. Parker (Jessica) Henderson Jr. of Hilliard, Ohio, Christopher (Frances Miller) Henderson of Chicago, Illinois, and Laura (Matthew) Dudek of Charlotte, North Carolina. In addition, he has nine great nieces and nephews. Chris is a 1966 graduate of Southwestern Central High School (Jamestown, NY), received his BA from Dartmouth College in 1970 followed by his attainment of a JD degree from Georgetown University Law Center (1973). Upon graduation, he was the law clerk for the highly respected Judge Herbert Stern in New Jersey. Chris then served in the US Navy JAG Corps from 1975 -1979. 

     Chris was a partner in the law firm of Digges & Henderson in LaPlata, Maryland and was named and elected Associate Judge in the Seventh Judicial Circuit for Charles County from 1996 until his retirement in 2008. 

     Of note, he presided over the longest criminal trial in Charles County history. Chris was a member of the District of Columbia Bar, State Court of Military Appeals Bar, Maryland State Bar Association and Charles County State Bar (President 1994). He was also a Director of the Charles County Freedom Landing (1990 - 1996) as well as Mattawoman Creek Art Center (1996). 

     A Celebration of Life will be held in LaPlata, Maryland with his remains being scattered at a later date in his beloved St. Thomas. Memorials can be made to the Mattawoman Creek Art Center (www.mattawomanart.org) of which Chris was an avid supporter.

Dan Harp, SWCS Class of 1964 passes away

   PROVIDENCE, R.I. - I just received word today that Dan Harp, SWCS Class of 1964 and older brother of Class of '66 classmate JoAnne Harp passed away in October.
    Dan and I worked together at Lakewood Beach as lifeguards the summer of 1966.
    He was sort of a gentle giant, it seemed to me. He taught me the ropes of what lifeguards really do. And he was a good mentor about what college would be like.
    I'll probably write more about him at another time. 
    But for now, RIP Dan Harp. 

LINK to Obituary.

A class of '74 SWCS classmate passes away

VALOIS, New York - I received notice today that an SWCS grad from 1974 - Bob Storms - recently passed away.

https://swcs1974.wordpress.com/2017/07/22/bob-storms/

Bob Storms was the son of the late Bud Storms of Lakewood, a fellow I worked with in 1970 at the old Crown Dental Laboratory in Jamestown. Bud was a clever, outspoken guy and lectured me from time to time about, well, everything. I was 21, he was in his 40s.

We sparred about politics endlessly until the Kent State shootings in May of 1970. He didn't understand why the students would protest and put themselves in harms way. I didn't understand how he couldn't understand.

I learned a lot from him though and I knew how important his family was to him.

One little odd note, a comment on genetics.

In the photo of Bob Storms, there is a reflection - kind of a glint - from a front tooth, as if he had a gold or metal crown on his tooth. His father Bud had a front tooth - right in the same spot - that had an issue. Plus, Bob looks just like Bud in the photo.

RIP Bob Storms, tell your dad hello for me.

Classmate Terry Jenkins has passed away

LAKEWOOD, New York -  I just received notices from several folks that our SWCS classmate Terry Jenkins passed away.

Classmate Bob Swanson sent along the full Lind Funeral Home write up linked below.

I didn't know Terry well. But I do remember that he was first person I ever saw who wore one of those metal key clips on his belt with his car keys and assorted other items.

I remembering thinking, "How cool!"

RIP Terry.

LINK TO TERRY JENKINS' OBITUARY

SWCS 1960-1970s reunion July 3 at Lakewood Rod & Gun

LAKEWOOD, New York - You can't say that alums of Southwestern Central School don't like to get together and have parties.

July 3, the Lakewood Rod & Gun Club will shake, rattle and roll in a 1960-1970s reunion.

After the amazing SWCS Class of '66 reunion last summer, I am sure there is some shake, rattle and roll left in us. 

Right?

In any event, all the information is below. It's $20 per person to cover dinner and the party. Festivities begin at 6 p.m., dinner at 7.

For more info, contact Ron Ducat or Brad Zimmer at the phone numbers below.

Bryan Larson comments on Lee Anderson's passing

Classmates:

SWCS Class of '66 Classmate Bryan Larson sent me this email about our late classmate Lee Anderson this morning that he said was ok to share with everyone... Bryan can be contacted by email by clicking in his name above.

---------------------------------------

Mike,

Thank you for posting Lee Anderson's passing on our blog. I have known Lee since we were four years old, we played together as kids we went to church and Sunday school
at Gloria Dei Lutheran in Lakewood, and were confirmed from there in 1961.

We remained close friends through grade school and high school. When we graduated from Southwestern Lee enlisted in the Navy in July of 66 and I enlisted in the
Coast Guard in September. We always kept in touch with each other. In 1968 Lee married Marge Chapman, I had the honor of being his best man.

Lee made a career of the Navy serving over 20+ years and retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. After his retirement Lee and Marge moved to Kentucky to try his hand in farming
with his older sister Karen and her husband.

In 2001 Lee was diagnosed with PLS Primary Lateral Sclerosis. He was afflicted with this horrible disease for over 16 years. He fought the long 
fight with the help of his loving wife Marge and his two children Thad and Tammy.

---------------------------------------------

Classmate Lee Anderson has passed away

HARRODSBURG, Kentucky - I received word today that classmate Lee Anderson has passed away.

Lee had been ill for some years, though gamely kept his spirits alive and inspired lots of people around him.

I last saw Lee at the our 40th SWCS Class Reunion held in Mayville at Webb's Resort.

That's all to report for the moment. 

Below are several photos I snagged off Lee's Facebook page.

RIP, Lee. Keep the wind at your back.

Forget winter! Summer - and reunion time - is coming

JAMESTOWN, New York - Even if you are still recovering from last summer's SWCS 50th Class of '66 reunion in Mayville, get ready for summer 2017.

Reunion Meister Randy Carlson emailed me the information below, which tells about this summer's soiree in Lakewood.

This is a 1960 to 1970 class reunion.

Phone numbers for Brad Zimmer and Ron Ducat - heading up the effort, a listed on the form, too.

By the way, does anyone have any info about a possible SWCS Class of '67 reunion next summer? I am still trying to track down Sandra Carlson from that class. 

See y'all July 3?

A copy of 'Travels with Charley' in hand - thanks classmates!

POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - My wife Sylvia and I arrived safely here in California a little over a week ago, after driving our Toyota Tundra pickup, heavily ladened with boxes of precious cargo, (ok, a lot of it was junk) from the home we sold in Watkins Glen. 

That was Part I of the trip.

Part II starts in early September when I fly back to New York and grab my other pickup truck - a 1990 Nissan that I will drive slowly across the U.S. back here to California.

Which brings us to John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley. I purchased a copy at a local Barnes & Noble bookstore (an hour ago) using a portion of the gift card you all gave me recently. Perhaps I'll use the balance of that gift card at some Barnes & Noble in some other state.

My driving/camping trip will not be a zip and zoom, cross-country sojourn. Instead, I plan to take a largely blue-highway tour, stopping whenever I feel like it, checking the pulse of communities in several states - a la Travels with Charley.

I won't be retracing Steinbeck's trip. Instead, I will retrace (more or less) my own Travels taken in 1970 in a battered VW bus I bought in Jamestown. That bus would only go 45 mph. My Nissan can do 65 in a pinch. 

In 1970, I followed Interstate 80 from New York, diverting often from the four-lane highway once west of Chicago. 

And I'll do that again, I hope.

Thanks again for the gift card, classmates. I'm putting it to good use.

Thanks Classmates for the thank you card & gift! Wow!

POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - You got me! Totally!

After our amazing 50th SWCS Class Reunion, I went into full-tilt moving-mania mode. My wife Sylvia and I had just sold our house in Watkins Glen, NY and were in the process of moving from there to our new digs here in California.

The whole process of moving was nuts. But this past Thursday morning we arrived after a one-week, cross-country drive in our Toyota Tundra, arriving safely here in Point Richmond.

So it wasn't until yesterday - Saturday Aug. 6 - I began sifting through a mountain of mail and found this fabulous thank-you card (below) with a Barnes & Noble gift card inside... 

As I said, you got me!

It's a tribute to some teacher somewhere that I could read every single inscription. (OK, I did have to use some pretty powerful reading glasses. But still ... ) 

Thank you all for your thoughtfulness. You're a great group and we did have an amazing 50th reunion, didn't we?

Let's do it again!

REVISED video from Class of '66 50th reunion is up

MAYVILLE, New York - The 50th reunion of the Class of '66 of SWCS was - as we used to say - a total blast.

I had sooooooo much fun, I devoted a good part of my newspaper column Friday to talk about it.

Below is a video from the reunion, just snippets, plus the videos of those people who stepped in front of the camera to deliver a message to classmates.

My sincere apologies for the sound quality on some of the clips. I had no idea that the DJ's music would be that loud. But then, he probably is familiar with the hearing issues many of us have!

There is always loose talk at these about the next reunion. But I think it's very likely we will have another. And I agree with the folks who said let's do it in five years, not 10. Maybe Dalton Berringer will play a concert for us!

Thank you to all who attended and especially all those who worked sooooo hard to put it on: Randy Carlson and Jim Lindell and others whose names I don't know at the moment, but will highlight in a future post.

I hope to see you all again in five years - and those of you who couldn't attend this year's event.

Go Trojans!

A chance to say hello via video Saturday night

MAYVILLE, New York - Saturday night at the SWCS Class of '66 reunion, I will have a video camera set up for classmates who want to record a short memory from our high school years - or just comment.

This is partly for classmates who could not attend the festivities to get a look at those of us there - and hear our voices.

Plus, for people who do attend, this will be a keepsake, sort of.

So, what to say?

Well, here's some suggestions for comments:

• A favorite memory from high school

• A least-favorite memory

• Comment about a teacher

• Comment about classmates

• Favorite class

• Least favorite class

• What you would do if you could go back

The comments don't need to be lengthy at all - and this is strictly voluntary.

See you all tomorrow night in Bemus Point and Saturday in Mayville.

Urgent call for Class of '66 photos for the July 1&2 reunion!

BEMUS POINT & MAYVILLE, New York - If you have any historical photos from our high school years - maybe of plays, sports, parties, dances, or whatever - please bring them along to the class reunion.

Randy Carlson will be setting up bulletin boards where they can be posted on display.

You will get them returned. The display will be just for the reunion.

Personally, I wish I had been shooting photos a lot in those days, especially of our off-campus activities. Then again, maybe it's just as good we don't have any photographic evidence lurking.

Below are few shots from our SWCS Yearbook of stage plays our classmates were involved in. I suspect many classmates who were in the casts - or working behind the scenes - have less formal shots that would be fun to see.

Bring your photos to the reunion, please!

Final countdown underway for SWCS Class of '66 50th reunion

BEMUS POINT, New York - The final countdown has begun.

Just 9 days from now (as of this writing, anyway) a quorum of members of the 1966 graduating class of Southwestern Central High School will gather in Bemus Point for the first night of a two-night celebration.

Celebration?

Yes. That's my plan anyway.

There's golf, dancing, yakking, and possibly some imbibing of beverages. Possibly.

Friday night the assembly - more fun than any assembly we probably ever had in high school - will be at the site of the old Surf Club, now the Ellicottville Brewing Company. That soiree starts at about 5:30 p.m. and runs until we run out of steam.

Try to make it to 7 p.m., please!


Saturday night is at the Chautauqua Suites in Mayville. There will be cocktails before dinner, cocktails with dinner, and cocktails after dinner while the dancing goes on. 

Rereading that last sentence suggests that I should grab a glass of wine to finish this post.

If you have any last-minute questions, concerns, ideas or anything else, give Randy Carlson a shout via email by clicking on his name.

And below is the balance of the photos of classmates who said they will be attending.

Hope to see y'all in Bemus and Mayville.

SWCS Class of '66 reunion just two weeks out - plus more classmate photos

BEMUS POINT - Bemus Point and Mayville are probably bracing for the arrival of the SWCS Class of '66 for our 50th Reunion celebration & shenanigans.

Classmates are polishing their golf clubs (Do you polish golf clubs?), shining their dancing shoes and getting ready for two days of non-stop fun - and nostalgia. 

Of course, in the intervening 50 years, some memories have dimmed, mercifully enough. Others are vivid.

They will all be on the table for chattering about Friday and Saturday.

In the meantime, here's another gaggle of nine photos of classmates who have said they will be at the reunion the evening of July 1 in Bemus (at the site of the old Surf Club), then Saturday night, July 2 in Mayville at the Chautauqua Suites.

See you there soon, amigos...

Countdown to July SWCS Class of '66 Reunion moving quickly

BEMUS POINT - We are only a few weeks out from the SWCS Class of '66 reunion, July 1 and July 2.

If you have been in seclusion and are just now finding out about this, well, here's the deal.

Friday, July 1, the class will be getting together in Bemus Point at the site of the old Surf Club, starting at 5:30 p.m. Exactly what will happen after that is up to you. But, just like when we were in high school, what happens in Bemus stays in Bemus.

Unless you blabbed about it. Then everybody in Southwestern knew about it 15 minutes later.

Saturday, July 2, there will be a soiree at Chautauqua Suites in Mayville. There's a cocktail party, dinner, perhaps a few special presentations/events/mishaps followed by dancing.

In all this, Shirley Adams has set up some golfing, too. (Not at either party, the rooms aren't that big!)

Here another blast of yearbook photos of attendees at July's festivities.

See you in Bemus, I hope...