Energized again! After six weeks since last writing, I suppose the 30 or so following have drifted away. Laziness, procrastination, working on the class history, and keeping active on the usual chores like taking out the garbage have kept me occupied. Now I have self-inserted three AAA batteries and am ready to go again.

Our history book is at the printer. I picked up a copy yesterday to review and take to the post office for weighing preparatory to mailing next week. Looking at it, I see various opportunities to fine tune it, but I had to call a halt somewhere to get it sent out in our collective lifetimes.

Since last writing, I have had exchanges with Jim Warren and will include some of his old pictures in the coming blogs. Here is one now of Sam Kersh and Dagmar Kielgast. We were all that young once.

Sam and Dagmar

   Jim has in interesting past, which is included in     the upcoming history. But for teasers, Jim was a pioneer in  the early days of Personal Computers and became well  known in publishing early computer publications. He married for the first time at age 65.

Here is Jim in some before and after photos:

Photo 1 1957-teaching at what is now MacArthur HS

Photo 2  Wild and wooly as a Stanford grad student

Photo 3 1978 passport photo

Photo 4. Today at home in Washington

American Pie—the day the music died. Our 1950 years saw the transition from ballads to rock and roll. San Antonio was late to embrace the new music—all the music at our dances in the gym was slow and easy. By the time I arrived in Austin for college in September 1955, I was amazed at hearing songs like “Good Golly Miss Molly” as well as seeing “Blackboard Jungle” and being blown away by “Rock Around the Clock.” Buddy Holly came along in 1959 and was incandescent for about eighteen months. Penny and I went to see a live performance of “The Buddy Holly Story” this past February 3. It was a memorable evening with about 25 songs that Buddy sang. By coincidence, February 3 was the anniversary of the plane crash that killed Buddy, Richie Valens, and the Big Bopper. There was a special tribute and we all joined in singing “American Pie.” If you are not familiar with it, look it up on YouTube and listen to it—the day the music died.

In closing, I have other stuff to pass along but will save it till the next effort in a couple of day. In the meantime, most of you are in a warm clime. Here is a photo of a friend’s house in Boston, where they have had 90 inches of snow.