Tape title stories

 The Skunking of Texas Billy       While there was no professional contracts offered Greg was a pretty athletic young fellow. What he lacked in skill he made up for in his will to participate, nomatter what the odds or the game. He was a good baseball player, a willing football player and tried at basketball. Let us not forget his glory as a C shotputter for South Gate Jr. High where he actually won a meet. Like many South Gate kids he learned all the playground games from caroms to tether ball but when it came to ping-pong he had his own table right in the back yard on McNerney. Everybody played ping pong and we were all at about the same skill level except one unbeatable table tennis titan who lived at the corner of McNerney and Tenaya. Bill Gathings was a couple of years older than Jack but he was an outstanding athlete, especially basketball where he starred for the South Gate High team and later ELAC. Bill was a nice guy but highly competitive. He never wanted t...

  You Could Have Brought Me a Whisk Broom      Let us return to the tales of the Patriarch of the Smith family, the dry-witted Dale F. who ruled his family pad on Carson road in star-studded Beverly Hills, California. How had a lad from South Dakota came to such glorious circumstances is for another tale but this one entails the most basic of human needs. The problem with the Carson road pad at that time was that it was just two bedrooms and one bathroom for the six Smiths residing there. Bathroom time had to be planned out and in this instance Dad had to "see a man about a dog" in that one bathroom. At that time he noticed a lack of toilet paper and cast his eyes on the empty spool left by a careless child no doubt. So this beloved father called out to his children to solve this dilemna and just bring him a roll of what is known as proper hygeine in civilized lands. Young Kevin answered the call to his Pop in need, assuring him he would take the errand seriously. H...

 the taffy pull Since we are on the subject of Greg's boyhood and march to manhood I place into  posterity the once famous "taffy pull." As has been noted, the Creasons and the Sheehys were very close as family units and John met Ben when he was doing "post-grad" studies at Huntington Park High School taking typing or some other useful skill. They continued to be pals and had some adventures together including a trip to a Notre Dame game that was heightened by doses of Wilkin Family whiskey that might be mentioned another time. They also, as John told it once drank 77 ten cent beers and then stopped at a stand called Finley's for tamales. Their walk home included many belches and stops to water the bushes of Florence. In this bit of Sheehy lore the five from the Sheehy unit were visiting on a Sunday to the Annetta street home of the Creason six. One of the ties that bound the two families were the age similarities of the kids. Cheryl and Stephen were near Ma...

 She was a he but he died Warning this post contains sexual situations but it is funny      This is a Greg story he never told in front of family because it was not a family type story. However, I found it all about what boys experience when growing up and a tale as old as testosterone. My old pal was born a heterosexual with all the trials and tribulations that come with the orientation. About the time he was having the first glimmer of sexual feelings and attractions to girls he attended South Gate Junior High. SGJH was kind of known for the punks and bullies who hung around Otis and Firestone or at the little market called Jonesies at Southern and Otis where they shoplifted. None of we Catholic school kids wanted to pass through the gauntlet of these pricks except maybe to check out the "loose girls" who flaunted themselves in attire not allowed at our school (flats and tight skirts). Greg, however was in the center of the maelstrom taking flack from public school...

 Floyd Wakefield Shoe Doctor      Greg told this one about an old nemesis on Tweedy boulevard who operated the sporting goods store called F&M. Floyd Wakefield was a local right wing politician who espoused the glories of the American way and pretended to be the most moral man in the Gate. Later he managed to get elected to the state assembly and lead the charge to stop busing of minority students, thus maintaining pure white schools. Although Floyd had suffered the tragedy of losing a child he answered the drowning of one of his own by filling the pool and building a bomb shelter. As Margaret Knowlton always said Floyd saw a commie under every bed. During his career as a merchant Wakefield sponsored a loaded Hawks baseball team that included Jack Sheehy who mercilessly bombed my Eagles club by plenty with Jackie Boy clubbing a grand slam. Floyd tried over many years to best the Branch Rickey of SGJAA Eugene Childs and his Jets but never made it. Yet, this story...

     Which One's the Peter?       In a family so full of strong personalities a quiet in-law from South Dakota held his own in the wit department. Maybe best known as husband to the forceful Rose and dad to a Smith tribe who were not Beverly Hills types but lived in the city of stars for years. Just one of many good ones from Dale has been forwarded from son Kevin who passed on a goodly amount of humor from the dry, dry South Dakotan wit of his Pop. Dale was also my boss in my short stint at the BH Post office where he had risen to be Postmaster in the "mail stop of the stars." He was known as a man who got the job done without threatening the staff but also made sure the mail got out on time. Strangely enough I only visited the Smith haus once since I mostly met up with "herr schimdt" wherever Greg was hanging his hat. Dale just had a look of merriement on his face at family gatherings and I have no idea if  he just had a resting happy face or he...

  I found that life frightened me when I was sober       The dialogue of the great Eugene O'Neill's plays was always admired and memorized by Greg  especially "the Iceman Cometh." among many others. We were subscribers to the American Film Theater's productions that were always excellent and filled with genuine literary greatness. Plus, it was thirty bucks for the nine plays. The series came out in 1973 and we used to drive over to the El Rey theater in Beverly Hills for the screenings. Opening day was an utter disaster as they were trying to use computer ticketing and the technology was not quite there yet. Greg, myself, and the Bobcat were regulars with stars in our eyes and pretentions to being young intellectuals. Iceman was a test due to the 239 minute length with two needed intermissions but the play was rivetting and never dragged. The cast was spectacular with lifetime performances by Robert Ryan and Lee Marvin. A young Jeff Bridges was a key part of the...