Returning to Middlesex Junior High School--1967

One of the casualties of my upward, and sideways, mobility over the years has been that I have thrown out more things that I have saved and misplaced more things than I have thrown out. The net result is that I no longer have some things I would most like to have as I get older: examples of some of my earliest work in life, copies of old yearbooks/annuals, letters from and to friends before the advent of email, etc.

Thus I was overjoyed to receive an email from a person whom I didn't know in my youth, but who had attended the same Junior High I did and graduated from it in 1971, four years after I finished. My email correspondent (Minnie Marshall) in fact had a brother, David, who was in my class at Middlesex Junior High School in Darien, CT. I remember David from elementary and junior high: a friendly and quiet guy with a long, loping gait who lived on Christy Hill Road, about 1/2 mile from my home on Hoyt Street. David lived in Oregon in the 1990s-2000s, about 40 miles from me, but sadly died in 2005 of a fast-moving cancer.

Minnie contacted me after reading some of my essays on life at Middlesex Junior High from 1964-67. She happened to live within about an hour of me and said she still had a copy of David's old 1967 yearbook. Would I be interested in looking at it? I almost lept out of my chair with delight at such an invitation. What riches would I discover and what memories would be kindled when looking at this glossy, paper-bound, velvet-covered, black and white production of about 60 pages from 41 years ago? So, we decided to meet in Vancouver WA yesterday so that I could learn about the Junior High people of Darien in the mid-1960s.

Meeting My Past

When my eyes fell on the yearbook from 1967, I instantly remembered some of the pictures I would be poring over for the next hour or so. In fact, so eagerly did I leaf through the pages that I am afraid I didn't pay much attention to the bringer of the book--but I am sure Minne understood. I turned first to the picture of my homeroom class--Room 109, Miss Reed's classroom (I think that was her name: we all just referred to her as "Pruneface"). A few observations immediately hit me. First, the ratio of girls to boys was exactly 2:1; there were 16 girls and only 8 boys in my homeroom. In my sports-induced "guy" haze of those days I don't think I even noted those numbers at the time, numbers which would have made it seemingly quite easy for me to make my way in the social world of junior high. But I didn't date in junior high, even though I began to be part of the "good student" party crowd during my last year. In any case, more striking to me than even the ratio was the fact that I knew every one of the boys' names, even though I left Darien in the Summer of 1967 and really have never retured. I, as the tallest guy, was in the center back, but I was flanked by Allan Mueller and Don Kennerly. Poking his "mousy" head out from the back (he was nicknamed "the mouse") was Bill McCormick. Then, to his left was Steve Harvey, whose dad was a cop. Standing in front were Greg Weed and Billy Zarrilli. Then, sitting in the front row, surrounded by three girls, was Gus Van Sant. Gus and I shared a "table of four" in the homeroom. Later, after he had become an internationally-known movie director, I asked him (we were both living in Portland at the time) how Middlesex had influenced him, and he told me that Mr. Sohn, an English teacher, had first fired his interest in film and directing.

But what was equally striking to me was that I recalled almost none of the girls. There was Debbie French and Joan Bernard, but who were the rest? As I looked at them I realized how cute many of them were but, for some reason, I was oblivious to that reality. I tormented girls (mostly my Latin teacher, Miss Foster) rather than cultivated them....

The Football Team

I wanted to see if my memory for the guys went beyond my homeroom classroom, and so I turned to the athletic team pictures. Again, what struck me was that I, who have made my life on my academic prowess, was really kind of a jock in junior high. I was on the basketball and football teams and I also was among the twelve 9th graders who competed against the faculty in a student-faculty volleyball game. So, I eagerly looked at the picture of the football team, and the guys' names came rushing back to me as if I was hit by a tidal wave. I looked at the front row (kneeling guys) from R-L, and I knew immediately their names: Dan Keith, Jim Bishop, Jim Mooney, Bob Bush, Reid Graham, Duncan Peters, George Sposito, Dick Colligan (Culligan?), Scott Port, Doug Gerstenmaier, Bill Long, Alan Brunner.

Wow. How could this be? I went to the middle row, and the names also came back. The tiny guy in the jacket and tie was our manager, Jeff Haines, whom we loved to push around. Then, there was Steve Vosburgh, Frankie Steinegger, John Reichertz, Greg Hudson, ...., Jackie Erickson, Ed Mulvehill, Billy Collins, Dick Daughters, Craig Demorest, Pete Weller, Lance Duda and Billy Powell.

The back row was filled mostly with the 8th graders who, of course, were less than human and so I only knew a few of their names, but there were also the coaches and a few 9th graders: Coach Larry Posson, Chris Teague, ...., Bill Fisher..., ..., ..., Richard Ryan, Drew Papsun, Steve Benson.... Coach Kirk. I do remember some of the games from those days, and even how I performed. I don't know a thing about any of the guys since those days, though I am sure that many of them have probably made their way very well in the world.

Other Pictures and Memories

I kept leafing through the pictures, and on every page more and more names would come to mind, whether it was homeroom class pictures or activity photos. Beatle haircuts were "in" for the guys, and skirts just above the knees were de rigueur for the girls. I turned to the basketball team photo, and I saw several guys from the football team: in the picture are Jackie Erickson, Don Snowden (who was my best friend in elementary school), Pete Weller, Phil ??, John Geddes and Larry Hart. In the second row were Jim Mooney, Tom Benson, Bill Long, Steve Vosburgh, Bob Bush, Eddie Maher (sp?) and one of the Costello kids. The back row had Mr. Colburn, Dave Miller, Jim Bishop, George Sposito and Mr. Platenyk.

Then, I decided to look at one other picture before turning the book back to Minnie. It was the "campaign day" or "politics" picture. In those days I wasn't into student politics, though when I moved to CA that year I became treasurer of the student body (1969-70) and in theological seminary I would become president of the student body (1976-77). In this picture were, from L-R, Dick Daughters, Bill Cheswick, Keith Holloman (a close friend from junior high), Mark Mangini, Jeff Bewkes and then a few girls I recognized: Sue Arnold, Leslie Chamberlain and Kathy Black.

Conclusion

Sometimes the music of our lives plays in distinctively minor or hushed tones. But yesterday the strains were dulcet. I smiled, remembered, mused and shared thoughts with Minnie. Darien was a special place for me, and a pleasant afternoon 3000 miles away 41 years later brought back the memories with a special power. Where are all those people now? What became of the gangly guys and cute girls? What joys and tragedies creased our lives? What wisdom do we now have?

I closed the yearbook and gave it back to Minnie. It was a journey well worth the time, and one that I won't soon forget.

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