Hiatus

Until further notice.

Show Me the Place, 18

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

18: The Hiram School Study Hall, 1956–62

I’d never heard of “study hall”

When I began at Hiram School.

(I didn’t study much at all—

Which, looking back, is kind of cool.)

We had to sit there quietly

And look as if we were at work—

That wasn’t really hard for me,

For, as you know, I was a jerk.

I learned how I could make time fly—

I’d read a book—or draw dumb stuff.

The library* made time go by—

And, soon enough, that was enough.

I sat there and read Moby-Dick

And looked at cartoons in the Post.**

I thought about some things so sick—

But I don’t really want to boast.

And so the years just soared along—

And soon—too soon—they all were gone—

In ways, just like a favorite song:

It’s over—next is Forest Lawn!

*It was up in the front of the study hall room.

**Saturday Evening Post

HHS study hall, 1962

Show Me the Place, 17

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

18: The Hiram School Gym & Stage & Dance Floor, 1956–62

The Hiram Gym was very small—

Not room for many fans at all.

On just one side were bleacher seats,

Where fans could watch athletic feats.

And I played basketball—a lot—

Though I can’t claim I was too hot.

But, oh, the game days’ many thrills—

The hope, the loss, the leaps, the spills.

And at one end—the school stage—

Where, for a while, I felt the rage

To walk those boards, to be in shows,

To hear applause—feel afterglows.

Up there I sang and acted, too—

Or so I thought. (One point-of-view!)

Mikado—Trial by Jury—and

Some shows not known across the land.

But all were fun—and meant so much

To all of us—we’re still in touch!

I used what I had learned those days—

Directing shows—all sorts of plays.

We also used that floor to dance—

The Twist, the Pony (we could prance!).

We fell in love out on that floor—

Fell out again—then fell once more.

And gym class! Oh, the memories

Of dodgeball, knocked down to my knees.

Oh, what a place! A palace grand!

In ways, a perfect fairyland.

Show Me the Place, 16

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

17: The Hub; Hiram, Ohio

It was a place we could hang out—

And here’s what it was all about:

You went downstairs into the place—

And looked around … a friendly face?

A haven for the young in town—

Where you could be a sage—or clown.

Some pinball games, some icy Cokes—

And lots of adolescent jokes.

And baseball cards and candy bars—

And kids who dreamed of having cars—

I think a table for some pool?

The Hub was really quite a school

To learn those things outside of class

That meant a lot—and you could pass

By being so attentive you

Could learn to talk—and sound cool, too.

It had some little basic booths

Where we would sit—eat Baby Ruths—

And think about how cool we were …

It never really would occur

To us that we just might be wrong!

This road of ours seemed dreary, long.

Show Me the Place, 15

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

16: The Old Hiram College Gym; Hiram, Ohio

That gym lay in the bowels of

A building (Hayden Hall), where we

On Sunday nights could go to see

A movie. Much as I do love

A movie, it was basketball

That made me so fond of that gym.

Sometimes—the movie done—we’d all

(My friends and I) sneak down the hall,

And down the stairs, flip on the light,

And play some ball until—we’re caught!—

A janitor would come. We fought

To stay (but always lost). The night

Awaited us outside, so we

Went home—but dreamed of shots that won

The game. (Oh, boyhood was such fun!)

And wake up—kids again—carefree.

couldn't find a gym pic--it's gone, converted to office space--
but it was in this building, lower level

Show Me the Place, 14

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

15: The Baseball Diamond; Hiram, Ohio

The Hiram School, I’ve said, is gone—

You have to know where it once was

To find the spot—it’s just a lawn.

I miss the Hiram School because,

Of course, it was a place of good.

(Nostalgia: What a memory does.)

I used that ball field all I could—

It was a special place for me:
I made my boyhood livelihood!

The Hot Stove League—great memory!

Those high school teams—the purest glee!

I loved that diamond—fervently!

Hiram's Hot Stove League
F Team (based on age, not a grade for our skill!)
1958?
I'm 3rd from the left in the back.

Show Me the Place, 13

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

14: Hiram College Tennis Courts; Hiram, Ohio 1956–66

I’d never played the game before—

A game with “love” there in the score?

But soon I played it all the time—

Just hacked away—a pantomime

Of how the game, well, should be played.

But I was not all that dismayed:

I ran around; I hit the ball—

And, now and then, I took a fall.

In college, I was on the team—

It was a kind of splintered dream:

I earned four letters in four years—

But wasn’t good—just ask my peers.

I played some more, much later on.

But soon my tennis days were gone:

I’d gotten older—truth to tell—

And could no longer play too well.

My knees and ankles, shoulder, too,

Said, “That is it—you’re done—you’re through!”

And so my racket went away—

The final curtain for that play.

Hiram College tennis team
1966
(I'm 4th from the left, front row)

Show Me the Place, 12

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

13: Hiram Local School, 1956–62; Hiram, Ohio

The Hiram School, I quickly learned:

The perfect place for me.

Because the school was very small,

Oh, sampling was so free—

Activities—from sports to plays

To band to choir to shop

And publications—other things.

And then there was the “hop”—

The dances we held now and then

When even I could try

The Twist and then the Stroll—such grace!

(That sound you hear’s a sigh!)

That “graceful” goal I didn’t reach—

Not ever (to be true),

But now that school is razed and gone—

Oh, how those years just flew!

Show Me the Place, 11

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

12: The Woods around Hiram, Ohio—1950s

The wooded township Hiram had

Allowed me to be Robin Hood.

I dressed in green—and fought the bad

With sticks and arrows—all for good!

My parents were somewhat concerned:
A Robin Hood inside their son?

All schoolwork he has somehow spurned?

Devotes himself to constant fun?

Oh, yes, I did! (I’m proud to say.)

I loved those arrows more than math.

And as for school? I’d rather play.

(And I am now no psychopath!)

Those boyhood days in Lincoln green

Lie in my past—so long ago.

But I know what those days now mean:

They helped imagination grow.

Google Earth
still lots of woods around Hiram

Show Me the Place, 10

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

11: Garfield Road; Hiram, Ohio; late 1950s

We bought a home, just down the hill

From Hiram College and the town.

It was more fun to travel down

Than up that hill. The house is still

Now standing there—and looks a lot

The way it did when we were there.*

Of course, it isn’t really fair

To think there will not be a jot

Of change in places that you know—

And loved. For change is, well, supreme—

And life itself is not a dream

Where things somehow avoid the flow

Of time. I spent my years of youth

While living there. But then my folks

Moved to Des Moines**—and all the spokes

Of youth then broke—a wrenching truth.

*1958(?)–1966

**both joined the faculty of Drake University that fall

Pic from Google Earth

Show Me the Place, 9

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

9: Carnegie Public Library; Enid, Oklahoma

Yes, Enid had a library—

A gift from Andrew Carnegie.

My family went there every week—

Or even more—to get a peek

At what the shelves held that was new—

And I knew just what I would do:

Just check for cowboy books, of course!

Some prairie guy upon a horse.

And so I met Bill Hickock there—

And Cody (Bill). This was the fare

I never became weary of—

My reading based on purest love.

The building was so beautiful—

The best in town—my heart was full.

I later learned they’d torn it down—

A stain upon my old hometown.

R.I.P. Carnegie Public Library

Enid, Oklahoma

1904–72

I have published via Kindle Direct the story of that library--and my reading life: Turning Pages: A Memoir of Books and Libraries and Loss (2012).  Link to it.

Show Me the Place, 8

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

8: Dodge Court; Hiram, Ohio; August 1956.

We moved into our old new house—

A “campus housing” place.

The floors were rippled—some rooms small—

But this would be our base.

A deep ravine was right nearby—

With vines we’d swing upon.

It’s true my brother broke his arm—

And was so woebegone.

I learned to love our Hiram years—

Deep in my boyhood soul.

The woods were close (for Robin Hood!)—

Our furnace, fired with coal!

I ran around—and made new friends—

Our dog* was happy, too.

Although he killed a neighbor’s cat—

He soon learned what to do.

I made some great new friends back then—

And some are still in touch.

Those Hiram years still resonate—

And move me very much.

*Sooner

Four generations of Lanterman-Osborn-Dyer
in front of our house in Dodge Court
1956? 57?

Show Me the Place, 7

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

7: 1706 E. Elm Ave.; Enid, Oklahoma

It’s 1953! We’re back!

And in the first house that we owned.

And Dad had bought a Pontiac—

I felt that I had been enthroned!

I was in third grade—back with friends.

We’d play and bike and run and lie—

I thought such wonder never ends.

It ended. ’56. July.

I learned we’d leave the Sooner State.

Off to Ohio we would go—

To Hiram. It would devastate

Me. Move away! Oh no! Oh no!

Dad and his 3 sons
1706 E. Elm
Enid, Okla.
August 1956

Show Me the Place, 6

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

6: Amarillo, Texas: 4242 W. 13^th Street; 1952–53

The Air Force called my father back—

Korean War was on.

We left our home in Enid—and

Our Enid years were gone.*

We moved to Amarillo then—

A small brick house we found

On 13^th Street—a shaded street,

With sidewalks all around.

And there I learned to ride a bike—

And started second grade

At Avondale—a brand-new school—

And played and played and played.

My dad worked at the Air Force Base—**

He was a chaplain there.

We sometimes had a meal on-base—

Heard jets roar in the air.

The middle of my third-grade year

We moved back home at last.

Yes, three more years in Enid—and

Those years flew by so fast.

*Not quite. We would move back in 1953.

**Now closed.

from Google Earth

Show Me the Place, 5

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

5: The Movies in Enid, Okla.

Four movie houses* were downtown—

Each, then, had but a single screen.

My mother sometimes showed a frown

When I told her what I had seen.

See, Parents’ Magazine for her

Was guide for the appropriate.

So when it happened to occur

That I’d messed up? She thought that smut

Had then arrived to ruin me—

But no smut ever on those screens

In Enid. Just some things I’d see—

And bit adult? With puzzling scenes?

There also were two drive-ins then.**

We sometimes went there in the car.

And Sleepy Hollow***—that was when

I thought cartoons had gone too far.

It scared me, yes, from head to toe.

I closed my eyes and covered ears—

How shocked I would have been to know

I’d teach that tale for many years!

*Sooner, Esquire, Cherokee, Chief

**Trail, Enid

*** That Disney cartoon, narrated by Bing Crosby, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, 1949

Show Me the Place, 4

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

4. My Grandparents’ House

We used to live upstairs from them

On Broadway Avenue.*

And how amazing this life was?

I really had no clue.

Oh, not back then, when I was young—

Just four and five and six.

The world was so amazing then—

Pure golden candlesticks

Illuminated all my life.

My grandparents were gods—

Two living just below me—now

Who wants to give me odds

That this could happen to a kid

In 1951?

But it did happen, and that kid?

His world was filled with fun.

I took it all for granted. Who

In childhood can foresee

The loss of all those folks you loved?

Impossible for me

To even contemplate—much less

Enduring all that pain.

At times, I wish I’d never grown—

Could be just six again.

*1609 East Broadway Ave.

little brothers in the snow,
Dickie & Danny--late 1940s
1609 E. Broadway Ave.,
Enid, Okla.

Show Me the Place, 3

“Show me the place.”

Duke Senior in As You Like It (2.1)

3: The Swimming Pool at Phillips University; Enid, Oklahoma

The swimming pool at Phillips U!

A place a loved at 102!

Yes, 102 degrees! So hot

My bicycle would melt, I thought.

But summer days there at the pool—

And not a thing could be more cool.

I learned to swim and learned to dive—

And how, in heat, to stay alive!

My father worked at Phillips U—

And that is how we got to do

The swimming thing on brutal days

Beneath that brutal Sooner blaze.

*Google Earth shows the pool is still there—can’t tell if it’s still in use, though. The last time I saw it (a decade ago?), I walked up to the walls outside—peeked in through a crack—didn’t look as if it were in use.