If you search this blog using the word Rawlings, you will see other posts I have made about our late classmate Jerome/Jerry Rawlings. I am very proud to be a part of today's (11/11/21) article in the Kirkwood Webster Times (yes I know I have the title backwards, but I ALWAYS do, it's a thing...) in honor of all veterans of course, but especially Jerry. He was a kind soul, often maligned by our contemporaries, because of what he wasn't, but in his military life, not long after KHS graduation, he became admired for what he was then, and now he is revered for what he didn't get to be and what he did before he left us way too soon. Please go here to read the article:
Friday, November 12, 2021
Wednesday, October 6, 2021
Missouri Writers Hall of Fame inducts Susan Croce Kelly - another KHS65 STAR
Yet another member of KHS65 shows our class to be one top-notch group of aging baby boomers yet again!!! We just ROCK! Thank you Susan for always being smart, creative and such a great credit to us in Kirkwood and in Missouri! Best wishes for all you do!!!
On Sept. 30, journalist and Route 66 historian Susan Croce Kelly will be inducted into the Missouri Writers Hall of Fame during a special online edition of the organization’s annual Quill Gala. The award will be presented during a virtual ceremony that will feature a live roundtable discussion with Kelly. Kelly is the prize-winning author of two important books of Route 66 history: “Route 66: The Highway and Its People,” and “Father of Route 66: the Story of Cy Avery,” both published by the University of Oklahoma Press. Today her work is focused on Ozarks history and culture: she is managing editor of OzarksWatch Magazine, published by the Ozarks Studies Institute of Missouri State University, and she is working on final edits on “Newspaperwoman of the Ozarks,” a biography of long-time twentieth century reporter Lucile Morris Upton, which will be published by the University of Arkansas Press. “We are proud to recognize Susan for her storytelling career and her contributions to the written word,” says Randy Berger, president of Missouri Writers Hall of Fame. “Her work will stand as an inspiration to a new generation of writers who will use their talents to tell the stories of our region. We are honored to celebrate her legacy and her ties to Missouri.”
This year’s event will be broadcast live on Zoom at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 30. Viewers can join at this link (https://missouristate.zoom.us/j/94190328635), which will also be available on Missouri Writers Hall of Fame’s Facebook page. The Quill event raises funds for college scholarships for talented high school seniors. This year’s event is free to view and donations are encouraged. Donations can be made during the broadcast, or any time, at this link: https://cfozarks.org/writers You can also donate by mailing a check to Missouri Writers Hall of Fame at 411 N. Sherman Pkwy., Springfield, MO 65802. For more information, please contact Randy Berger at randybergerpr@gmail.com or 417-818-0494.
About Missouri Writers Hall of Fame: Established in 1994, Missouri Writers Hall of Fame is a not-for-profit organization that encourages writers of all ages. Proceeds from various events fund college scholarships for talented high school seniors and recognizes students in grades 5 through 12 for their writing skills. To fulfill its mission, the volunteer board of directors each year selects a Missouri professional writer to receive the Quill Award for making significant contributions to the written word. Past Quill Award recipients include young adult authors Sandy Asher and Kate Klise; producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason; children’s author and poet David Harrison, songwriter Johnny Mullins and novelists Daniel Woodrell and Ridley Pearson. ###
Saturday, October 2, 2021
Alan Yount says Happy Birthday so eloquently!
Alan sent me this one and I copied it so I could put it out here, then read the next one he sent and was so shocked by his recent brush with death I forgot that not long before his near-fatal heart attack, he'd celebrated his 74th birthday! I hope you enjoy his work as much as I do, me who basically hates poetry, as I've posted before, BUT his nearly always pulls at my very limited poetry strings! Thanks Alan!!!
.
Happy Birthday, Finally
……………..“For My Seventy-Fourth”
……………..“June 6, 2021.”
it still seems
……………..amazing to me
I try to play
……………..the trumpet everyday
and can still make it
……………..to high “c.”
*****
awhile back
……………..I had my old horn
professionally cleaned
……………..& worked on.
it’s so good to play on it
……………..looking forward.
it seems now there is
……………..no more old arthritis in the slides
and the sticking values
……………..are all fixed.
*****
I now feel I still have
……………..some more notes to play!
and feel, also for sure
……………..now I have
just a few more poems
……………..to play & sing out high, like high
“c.”
.Postscript: A very sincere birthday wish. My hope, is a wish for a lot
of people, who survived the virus era. Those that made it both mentally and
physically. And now the wish is, they all feel a lot better, finally!.
by Alan Yount
Poet Laureate Alan Yount, aka Yount the Count, honored by his son after serious illness
Poems by Alan Yount and Arlan Yount
September 16th, 2021
.
photo from PxHere
.
___
.You Almost Did Not: Come Back
…………….For The Memory Of Miles Davis Playing Trumpet
Around St. Louis, Early On
.a strange caribbean woman
………….kneeled down
very close to me,
………….in my hospital recovery bed.
she seemed very animated
………….also even sensory
she gradually came closer
………….as she put her face next to mine.
was she possessed
………….she was shaking
as if on
………….a séance.
“I have heard,”
………….she said
“and have seen …”
………….“you came back,”
“for sure …”
………….“I can feel it so … real.”
“this is something,”
………….“I know.”
*****
.she said
………….“the rumor has it,”
“that you,”
………….“came back to life,”
“for some reason.”
she said with emphasis
………….“that you came back,”
“from the dead.”
I said
………….“I believe,”
“that has been said,”
………….“a couple of times before.”
.*****
.she said, quite emphatically
………….and again forcefully
“you should do something,”
………….“to change your life.”
“you go,”
………….“make a difference,”
“upon,”
………….“your return.”
.
*****
.
“you owe,”
………….“all of us,”
“this one thing,”
………….“from you.”
she said, for example
………….“find a trumpet song,”
“to play out”
………….“from your soul.”
“that is just your own trumpet,”
………….“sounding out,”
“above the heights of the city’s rooftops,”
………….“from the city,”
“from all of us in st. louis,”
………….“ we all know so well.”
.
by Alan Yount
..___
..A Tool Of Reconstruction
See my son
The fortune of bliss
Capturer of light
Alone and dismissed
My structure of being
A heart rupture – equip
A new mode of understanding
Alone and dismissed
Symphony and orchestra
My band’s melodic attempt
Salvation please save me
Act on a whim
Capture his essence
Capture his light
Don’t you dismiss me – because of the fright you put in the night
Now pick up and play the trumpet, if it is alright
.
by Arlan Yount
.
Editor’s Note:
In addition to being a published poet of note for over 50 years, Alan Yount plays trumpet and has led his own dance band. During the summer of 2021, he had an aortic tear and other health complications that required emergency open heart surgery. During the experience he had a dream of Miles Davis.
Shortly after receiving Alan Yount’s poem, I received a poem from his son Arlan, who is not a poet but was moved to write “A Tool Of Reconstruction” after his father’s health crisis. He hopes the poem will help inspire his father to continue playing his trumpet.
.
.
___
.
.
Alan Yount has published poetry for over 50 years. His poems have appeared in WestWard Quarterly (featured poet for summer, 2018). Big Scream, Spring: the Journal of the E.E. Cummings Society, and Waterways. He has been in three anthologies: Passionate Hearts, Sunflowers.and Locomotives: Songs for Allen Ginsburg. Alan was one of 31 poets, along with Gary Snyder and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Also Chrysalis Reader. Alan plays trumpet and has led his own dance band.....
Arlan Yount has a degree in psychology and is currently furthering his education. Writing poetry and short stories illuminates his time as a leisurely passion while also focusing on the fitness, health and psychological well-being of himself and others as a behavioral-fitness coach. He currently resides in Columbia, Missouri and be reached at arlanyount@gmail.com or on Instagram at arlanyount
Thursday, September 30, 2021
Yet another of our proud KHS65 members has left us too soon - RIP John T. Prill
From classmate Bob Baker to our great pal Jim Day (hubby of adorable Linda Girard Day who has been having some ills but is better) comes the sad news of the December, 2020 death of our classmate John T. Prill. I did not know him at KHS, but know of him from our Yearbook and do remember seeing him on campus. We have much in common which I wish I knew back then. Please go here to see the obituary and read about his amazing career and life - https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/19384648/John-Prill
The condolence utility is still active at that link if you wish to leave a message for his family. Seems to me he's earned resting in peace and love!
Wednesday, September 15, 2021
Passing of classmate Mickey Marietta and some ruminating about that blooming thing...
Those of you who frequent my blog, for which I thank you!, have likely stopped reading the very top because I never seem to get around to changing it. For a long time I had an announcement that Mickey Marietta (Michael F. Marietta) had suffered a stroke and listed his contact information in case anyone wanted to reach out to him. I was in contact with the nursing home, in Cuba, MO, for some time but as time went on I failed to follow up. My apologies to you all and especially to Mickey because my good friend, who always has my back, Jim Day, advises that Mick died from effects of that long ago stroke on 22 Feb 2018. I should have checked a long time ago, but like you all, I don't often read the top part because I just don't. Guess I need to !!! I need to update it period!!! I have just now tried finding an obituary for Mick but no luck so far. But I did do some looking around and find him in our KHS yearbooks online, called Francis M; Mickie, Michael and even Francis M., Jr. According to the Kirkwood School District records he was Michael F. Marietta, born July, 1947. I am sorry I don't remember when I posted that he'd suffered the stroke, but for now, we know he is gone too early and let us hope resting in peace after his struggle at the end of his life.
And speaking of our fellow KHS65 classmates, I have some interesting insight into the coincidence that J D shared with me the other day. First of all Jim's bride, Linda Girard, and I started out together in 2nd grade. I think she was in my Brownie troop too. They now live on the same street where she did growing up, not far from my earliest Kirkwood home. They have been married for ages, I forget how long, and have a wonderful family, I think one of the boys lives right down the street from them, lucky folks all 'round if you ask me! Anyway, Jim and Linda have a family farm in Owensville. Their great next door farm neighbors are a family named Jahnson. Mrs. Jahnson, Dottie, is the aunt of our late classmate Mary Jane Fuchs Walters. Dottie has another niece, the wife, Pat, of the recently deceased Dale Andrews! So we have Linda, Jim, Dale and Mary Jane, four KHS65 classmates, half a century or so later connected by geography, family ties and childhood. As Jim asks, "...what are the chances that four KHS65 classmates would end up in the country as 'almost neighbors'?."
We have some other fun stories like that, what rich lives those of us have who have "bloomed where we are planted" as a famous St. Louis writer, illustrator and personality, Mary Engelbreit, says.AND I ADD a DAY LATER: I heard from classmate Joy Bortle on Facebook that Mickey's sister Betsy is a neighbor of hers in Defiance! They belong to the same book club, and of course Betsy is also a KHS graduate...the coincidences keep piling up!
I harp on this "blooming" subject often because I personally feel so privileged to have done that and learned, after some years of doubting the wisdom of it, that staying in one place all of one's life is a gift, not a burden! I have so many life-long friends, so many memories that are constantly reinforced because I go to or near the places of my life often enough to remember them, and lately more and more how they USED to be! My life is very rich for having those connections and memories. While I wish I had been able to figure a way to spend some of my life in the east, it is fine that I'm still here. I have been privileged to travel quite a bit, and still always love to come home. I will be spending eternity in Massachusetts though, so in the end I'll get to be where I want with relatives and hopefully close enough to my daughter and grandson that she'll actually visit my grave sometimes, and my St. Louisan son will meet her there once in awhile! So blooming where I was planted has been just the right thing for me, and someday, but not soon, I'm too busy to die just now, I'll be able to be with ancestors who have shaped my life in so many ways, even though we never met.
Let's all rejoice in our connections and wonderful life stories and be in touch with our good friends. And we should also rejoice in the memories of our friends who have left us - all way too early, we are young yet! Well, relatively anyway! We all share so much - a subject we have discussed in letters, notes in reunion books, emails, and in person oh so many times over the last 56 years since that sweltering day in our robes on the football field!! We have a rich heritage and are all the children of privilege for having been able to live where we have, even if only in childhood, and shared so much. Come home to Kirkwood when you can folks, it's changing so very fast, come see it before it disappears and swallows up some of your precious memories.
Sunday, September 12, 2021
Another classmate gone way too soon, Dale Andrews
Please go here to see the obituary and newspaper article about our classmate Dale Andrews.
https://www.stlfuneral.com/obituaries/Norman-Andrews-Jr/
So sad that we have lost yet another member of our class; a loving family man and another good person. I continue to not understand why the bad guys aren't dying so young! The obituary has all the donation and funeral information. May he rest in eternal peace and love. Thank you to Linda Girard Day for alerting me to his passing. She and Jim are in tune to so many of our classmates. That's what happens when two people who grown up together marry and stay 'home' to live out their lives! It's called blooming where we are planted.... I find doing that reaps wonderful, meaningful rewards. I am reminded that Dale was a Veteran, having served in the First Cavalry Division, Viet Nam, 1967-68.
Sunday, August 22, 2021
BONUS BLUE MOON TODAY -- who knew?????
MASSACHUSETTS — Sky gazers, take note: This weekend brings more than a brief respite from the stresses of the workweek. It also brings a chance to catch a glimpse of a rare seasonal blue moon over Massachusetts.
The blue moon will adorn the night sky on Sunday. The last seasonal blue moon occurred on Halloween in 2020.
There are two instances in which we experience a "blue" moon. Many of us are familiar with the first instance: A blue moon happens when there are two full moons in a calendar month. The second is usually also simply called a blue moon, according to The Farmers' Almanac.
Turns out, that definition is more folklore than truth, The Farmers' Almanac says:
The modern custom of naming the second full moon of any month a "blue moon" was actually based on a misinterpretation in an article written by James Hugh Pruett in the March 1946 issue of "Sky & Telescope" magazine. Titled "Once in a Blue Moon," Pruett incorrectly summarized what he read in the Maine Farmers' Almanac.
The
second instance — the accurate definition of a blue moon and the type we'll see
Sunday — actually has to do with the number of full moons in a single season.
Typically, there are 12 full moons each year, or three per season. If four full
moons occur during a single season, the third is referred to as a "blue
moon." [I think this means the 4th not 3rd but maybe I'm wrong - but today IS the 4th Sunday]
If you miss this weekend's blue moon, you'll have a chance to catch the next one in just three short years. The next seasonal blue moon will grace the skies on Aug. 19, 2024, followed by May 20, 2027.
So, is a blue moon actually blue? Not usually, according to EarthSky,org.
If
you see a photo of a blue moon, chances are it was taken using a camera with a
blue lens filter. On rare occasions, usually after vast forest fires or major
volcanic eruptions, the moon has reportedly taken on a bluish or lavender hue,
according to The Farmers' Almanac. Soot and ash particles propelled into the
Earth's atmosphere can sometimes make the moon appear blue.[Northern CA might really see a blue moon tonight!]
The blue moon is also a sure sign that autumn is on its way, according to EarthSky.org. Since Sunday's blue moon happens considerably closer to the fall equinox than the summer, the moon shares similar characteristics to September's harvest moon. By definition, the harvest moon is the closest full moon to the autumn equinox. The true harvest moon will come on Sept. 20.
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