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Q:
What would you say was the highlight of your evening
May 24? Anything totally unexpected?
A:
It
is hard to say what hit me most or surprised me most.
Just the sheer number of persons -- so many persons
who were very important parts of my past. Those of
you with whom I had the pleasure of working for so
many good years, golfing friends, bridge players,
fellow church members, family, etc. I do think there
were more than
a hundred there. Wish we had included a guest book
so I could read over the names and recall again and
again those important milestones of my live.
At a time or two times during the evening I had the
strange -- comforting yet unnerving -- feeling that
these are among the very persons I would like to attend
my memorial service. And at one moment I thought the
only decent thing for me to do was to kick the bucket.
Of course, I am not nearly ready for that.
Q:
Who
were the organizers of the evening? How many were
fellow teachers at Washington or Arlington? Students?
Who at the party have you known the longest?
A:
I
was unprepared for the entire evening and resisted
the efforts of my sister and my niece to endure the
party until they finally wore me down and I realized
that this was important for them, too. They did all
the work. Nieces and nephews came from California
I am grateful to you and Diana Hadley for inviting
my teaching colleagues. I just didn't have enough
time to chat will all those important friends who
had helped with the High School Jouralism Institute
at Indiana University.
A former newspaper editor from Washington High School
came from Iowa City. She had called my sister, saying
she had heard about it and wanted to invite herself,
her husband, the yearbook editor of that same year
-- I believe it was
1958 -- and her husband. Both Linda Hefner Muston
and Becky Grimes Bright were active student members
of ISHPA. Another surprise was the appearance of Mary
Jane and Kay Hinds, both very active members of the
Arlington High School publication program. Another
surprise: seeing a friend whom I had enjoyed through
eight years of grade school. Her 80th birthday was
two days after mine, and she still plays a mean game
of golf.
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