He built a laser back in the days before lasers were common things. I’m surprised he didn’t blow out the wall of his basement the first time he fired it up. This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill laser pointers like we have these days.

He had a profound influence on me.

1. He and I were cruising around when we spotted a new cashier at the Rialto Theater. We flipped a coin to see who would make the first run at her. I won the flip and the girl. We’ll be married 40 years next month.

2. He convinced me that I should transfer out of SE MO State College and follow him to Ohio University “while you still can.” If it hadn’t been for his nudge, there’s no doubt that I would still be there.

My teacher was Mr. Brasington. He taught physics and physical education. The darkroom was in the back of his shop.

I don’t remember how I got there, but one day I got the key. We did 11 X 16’s by tilting the Bogen to project on the wall and I got my first kiss in that darkroom.

As one would suspect, she was a blonde.

We did 35 and 4X5 negs. We also got the key to the observatory. 16 inch Cassegrain.

The guys from Irmo thought it was a silo and threw rocks at it to hear them bang off the shielding.

There was one guy in my class who won a science project award for mapping the radio signatures of Jupiter. He turned out to be a Bible pounder. Go figure.