I know many of our classmates had Mr. Hetherington for typing and likely other classes. I didn't, I missed that class! I took typing but not with a fun good-lookin' jock type guy! Here is his obituary from Kirkwood Webster Times:
Saturday, July 17, 2021
Thursday, June 10, 2021
HAPPY ANNIVERSARY KHS65 - MUSINGS ON OUR PAST
HOTEL JEFFERSON, ST. LOUIS, MO
CHECK the Wikipedia entry about the Hotel Jefferson, site of our Senior Party this night in 1965.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Jefferson_(St._Louis,_Missouri)
Where have those 56 years gone? That is the most frequent question I receive from our classmates. We are so fortunate that so many of us can make lengthy lists of our answers...kids, grands, travel - the biggest one we have in common in my experience, careers, military service - many successes in that arena, education - huge successes there, social activism - no surprise there given the time-frame in which we were coming of age, and yes sadnesses - loss of classmates way too soon, parents who lived such long lives and those who left us way too soon, but perhaps the most valuable as we continue to age is two-fold, good health for oh so many of us, and the lasting friendships. Just look at Facebook - how many of us are still in touch, and regularly at that, with those whom we have been friends nearly our total life spans. On the bulletin board above my desk there lives a framed photo from our 40th reunion's Robinson School group. There were 12 of us, 5 of whom I've chatted with in one form or another in the last week, 3 of whom are no longer with us and all of whom I have corresponded with in the past year. We were in grade school a LONG time ago...think about who you still communicate with; who you could still find if you wanted to chat; think about who you'd like to locate... in today's world there are so many ways to connect and reconnect - we are blessed by technology, likely far more than we are cursed by it, but some days in my world that is a toss-up!
WHODDA EVER THUNK 56 YEARS LATER I'D BE SITTING COMFORTABLY AT MY DESK, BIRDS CHIRPING LOUDLY OUT MY WINDOW, TV TELLING ME THE WORLD'S NEWS AND WRITING TO SO MANY OF MY LIFE-LONG FRIENDS OF ONE DEGREE OR ANOTHER? We are truly blessed.....
Yellow roses are the international flower of friendship and our class flower. May you have bouquets of yellow roses in your lives each and every day.
Friday, May 28, 2021
AS THEY SAY, GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE - CHECK IT OUT!
As I was posting Alan's recent poem about Miles Davis, he was writing to send me a new one, a love poem for us oldsters, not the first poem he has written to his lovely wife Jerra. We girls should be so lucky to have men writing poems to us! Alan just rocks! My own hands aren't yet translucent, but I've seen it plenty often; however I do sport the brown age spots and consider them badges of honor of sorts, they remind me of the warm sun on my hands as I've had them curled around a steering wheel in those thousands of miles I've enjoyed driving over the decades, and the years of mowing my lawn on warm/hot sunny days, before I realized I really really needed to wear gloves! More kudos to Alan!
THE SKIN, ON THE BACK OF OUR HANDS
“A Love Poem, For Older People.” “Also, For Jerra, For Over Twenty Years Together.”
there is something you can tell
about older people
the skin on the top of their hands
is almost translucent
like you could read
several messages in there
you can almost
see down into it
the skin has grown
on our hands
looking older
with all the lines
like the hands have shown
life’s wear
over so much time
and yes
also sometimes
shown with so much pleasure
for sure they have
each grown much older
and yet the aging brings closeness
more tighter
to both of us
made by us just so shared together
Postscript: Jerra once said, “We have both saved
the best of our lives: meeting, until our last years,
for the best lasting love.” Alan "The Count" Yount
Published by: WestWard Quarterly, Spring Issue, 2021.
POETRY OF OUR TIMES
I am home working at my desk today, gifted with some hours to do that by an appointment cancellation. I have been remiss in posting on this blog, and especially some more works by my favorite poet Alan Yount. I received an email from www.jerryjazzmusician.com that there was some news so I clicked and by golly there is a new poem from KHS65 Poet Laureate Alan. I am NOT a poetry fan, my own attempts have either been pretty lame or just plain awful, and I don't enjoy reading it. Having used a paperback edition of "How Does a Poem Mean" as a target on my dart board in my college days, I probably need say no more. But Alan's actually hits home with me, and I love his Archie & Mehitable -like style! [Crisis-I just looked for my copy of A & M and it's missing from the bookcase where I've kept it for years, another chore to do today, FIND IT!] Here is a new jazz-related poem I hope you will enjoy. Thank you again Alan for always making KHS65 look so poetic! If you don't know about Alan's life and career, read my prior posts or search here for his name, there are quite a few entries about him, his music and poetry. (I post this assuming you all know who Miles referred to here is...)
Miles’ Mouthpiece Pouch
miles attached the pouch
after the bend
where the trumpet bell started
widening out.
the pouch was close
to his lips and face.
maybe he also liked the smell
of new leather. I would have.
it’s good to have
a couple of
different mouthpieces
close at hand.
like if you
needed them
to play some notes
styling them, all so different.
having those extra mouthpieces
was to comfort you
just in case
to keep your sound
… just with so many
special notes
exactly in
your only miles style!
.Postscript: There is a great picture of Miles, holding his
trumpet, with the mouthpiece pouch. It is on the cover of
the book, Miles, The Autobiography. .
by Alan Yount
Check out this tribute on the Jerry Jazz Musician newsletter where this poem was recently published: "Few
artists inspire creativity like Miles Davis. This collection of poetry
by 50 poets from all over the world is further evidence of that."
Photograph of Miles Davis by Francis Wolff/courtesy Mosaic Images
Tuesday, March 30, 2021
MATTIE CAROLYN HALL (CAROL HALL) HONORED BY ALMA MATER STEPHENS COLLEGE - ZOOM TO THE PRESENTATION!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Commitment to ‘Beloved Community’ focus of Stephens College award recipient
COLUMBIA, MO, March 26, 2021 — The Stephens College Alumnae Association has announced that the organization’s annual Alumnae Achievement Award will be presented to Mattie Carolyn Hall, known professionally as Carol Hall, during the College’s 2021 virtual reunion weekend, April 8-10. Watch the award presentation during the Stephens College Honors Convocation, which begins at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 9. Access the Zoom link at stephens.edu/convocation.
The Alumnae Achievement Award recognizes alumnae who have distinguished themselves in their field and their community, and have a steadfast commitment to the Ten Ideals of Stephens. Now in its 70th year, it is the highest honor bestowed on Stephens College alumnae. This year’s honoree earned an A.A. in 1967 and a B.A. in 1969 from the historic women’s college in Columbia, Missouri. In addition to fashion design, retailing and liberal arts classes at Stephens, Hall took several Black Studies classes at the University of Missouri that, she said, “enriched my overall college experience.” She spent her freshman year at her mother’s alma mater, Bennett College, an HBCU women’s college in Greensboro, NC. Both at Bennett and Stephens, and during her career, Hall counts herself fortunate to have made many lifelong friends from diverse backgrounds.
Hall and other Stephens Black students formed a Black Students Union (BSU) on campus. When Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, she flew to Atlanta with a fellow classmate and BSU member, where they volunteered at the Southern Christian Leadership Conference headquarters helping mourners find housing with Atlanta families who welcomed strangers into their home.
“Witnessing this outpouring of love and kindness during this time of tragedy, anger and grief,” Hall said, “helped restore my faith and belief in Dr. King’s ‘beloved community.’” She had often expressed gratitude for having been lovingly taught, at an early age, her lifelong core values, “To love God and all people; to always do the right thing and do it right.” The Atlanta experience served to reinforce her belief and dedication to helping bring about a ‘beloved community.’
Hall’s participation in the ‘beloved community’ began in childhood in her native Kirkwood, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. She vividly remembers 1954 when court-ordered integration began in the U.S. and she was sent from the all-black Turner School to integrate the all-white Robinson School. Then as teenagers, she and her two brothers participated in an NAACP voter registration drive at the Pruitt-Igo housing project in downtown St. Louis.
After graduation from Stephens, Hall moved to New York City where she entered Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism’s summer program established in response to the Kerner Commission on Civil Disorder following the assassination of Dr. King. The program’s purpose was to address and help remedy the nationwide lack of reporters from minority communities in the nation’s newsrooms. Influenced by CBS newsmen like the late Edward R. Murrow and Fred Friendly, the journalistic principles that Hall learned and embraced focused on the role of a journalist who must report stories factually, accurately, truthfully. Bias and opinion are only for the audience to apply, she was taught.
Hall began her career in television news as a reporter and anchor at WHBQ Channel 13, ABC-TV, Memphis, TN. While upholding her journalistic principles, Hall reported stories on desegregation trials, busing, and the aftermath and recovery from the death of Dr. King. Subsequent moves took her back to New York City, and WOR-TV Channel 9; then to Washington, DC, “7:30 Live” WJLA Channel 7 ABC-TV; on to WTAE Channel 4 ABC-TV “Good Morning Pittsburgh,” Pittsburgh, PA, and finally to Los Angeles, “Newscope” KABC-TV Channel 7. Throughout her news career, Hall learned the history of each city, appreciated and enjoyed its cultural uniqueness, embraced the people and found ways to be a contributing member in the community. Over the years, Hall has been active in many churches, participated in school career days, held memberships in the NAACP, the Panel of American Women, The Links, Inc., National Association of Black Journalists, City Press Clubs, Bread for the World, The League of Allied Arts, Inc.; Museum of African American Art, LA; NAWBO-LA, Leadership California; and the alumni associations of Bennett College, Stephens College, UCLA Anderson, and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.
In 1984, she moved to Los Angeles and in 1986, launched Carol Hall & Associates, an award-winning communications, marketing, public and community relations, and events management consulting firm. The firm helps clients promote supplier, marketplace, workforce and audience cultural diversity.
Carol Hall has been married to Cliff Holliday for over 30 years, with whom she raised a daughter, and has one stepdaughter and stepson. Hall also remains active in her church and “gives thanks to God for her life’s blessings and the countless people in the many communities where she has lived, worked and served,” she said.
For more than 50 years, Hall has also been an active supporter of Stephens College as a member of local alumnae groups in the cities where she lived, and as a member of the Alumnae Association Board. “I am honored to be receiving the Alumnae Lifetime Achievement Award,” Hall said. “Stephens not only gave me opportunities to explore and learn, it also introduced me to lifelong friends who are my sisters and remain by my side to this day.”
Contact: Lita Pistono
Email: scnews@stephens.edu
Phone: (573) 876-7210
Wednesday, February 24, 2021
DO YOU REMEMBER "16 in WEBSTER GROVES" ? Check it out...
Thanks to Lois Lindley for sending me the link to this. It's been on TV a time or two in more recent years, and it's always fun to remember back to our glorious 1960s! Even if they were our arch rivals, the Websterites had many of our same experiences. Who ever thought we'd be the age we are now and having so much fun remembering our past and EVEN wanting to watch a Webster Groves show again! Enjoy everyone! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=giQxUkZ4Anc
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