Subject: Memories - finally
Date: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 09:44:26 -0400
From: "Gary W. Rubloff"
To: "ALL"

I guess I have been stupified by the flood of emails, but finally I have gained composure enough to act. So below are some memories of my PHS days. I am really looking forward to seeing you at the reunion.

In brief, we live in Clarksville MD, just between Washington and Baltimore, with children Becky in Manhattan NYC (attorney) and Benjamin in Cambridge MA (teacher). Sara is a clinical social worker. Unfortunately Sara's 40th reunion (Alleghany High School, Cumberland MD) is the SAME day, so she will not have the opportunity this time to meet more of you; she has met Hanlon's long ago, and Norton's and Davidson's recently. (It was actually Bev Hanlon, when Joe and Bev were at U. Chicago, as we were, during late 60's/early 70's). We'll look forward to attending the next PHS reunion together.

Gary Rubloff

MEMORIES:

We (Bob Canterbury, Marty Horn, others?) used to have great fun looking for and participating in drag races on Adams and Jefferson (?), which were one-way streets a block apart and going in opposite directions. Sometimes the other car(s) actually didn't race, so peeling away from the stop when the light turned green just looked stupid. One time, we were - we thought - fortunate, in that Canterbury's station wagon was so slow that the cop who pulled in front of 3 or 4 racers at a cross street might not have known we were in the race at all. Bob then took a quiet left to get out of the action and police view. Several blocks later, a loud siren and what seemed like a zillion flashing red lights appeared on our tail. The officer was mad as hell that we tried to escape, and when he left the tone in the car was very somber. I think it was of course hardest for Bob, who sometimes (maybe always) took the car when his parents were out, then drove it in reverse upon returning so the odometer would not provide evidence. I guess he was trying to imagine how the moving violation could be similarly reversed. Not likely.

I was always fascinated with cars, starting from a little car I bought from my neighbor Murray Favus. It was run by a 2.5 hp Briggs & Stratton engine. The envy, however, was one which Jerry Horn (Marty's brother) built himself, actually looked like a race car, and really moved. Marty was blessed when finally Jerry started letting him use it. Tinkering (fixing) was also fun, and I think of it every time I put gas in a car and smell the fumes. These interests culminated in my buying ($220, as I recall) a 1953 Studebaker hardtop, which the owner had souped up with an Oldsmobile V-8 engine, hydramatic transmission (fast for an automatic), and gold paint on the side panels to highlight an otherwise black car. It took me days to gather the nerve to put the pedal to the floor from a cold stop, and when I did the screech was very piercing. Once I took it out on the highway (2 lanes only, of course) with Marty Horn and we overdid it (shudder to think how much). I think the engine was too much for the cooling system, because when we stopped for gas the attendant opened the radiator to check the water and it boiled over for 10 minutes.

Dawdy Hawkins was a highly admired and serious coach. But he was a poker face almost all the time I ever saw him in PE. Except once. That time, one I cannot think or tell without laughing, he smiled. He had just been talking (or lecturing?) with that stern look, and had said "Let's be Frank and Honest". All of a sudden, a smile, as he pointed with his finger modestly and said "you be Frank and I'll be honest". I think there was riotous laughter, or at least should have been. I don't recall a repeat performance.

We had an slide rule class, held before school started and optional, and taught by Mr. O'Toole. I guess this was the talent search for techies, or nerds, as you prefer. It was relevant then, but of course of only historical interest now. I still have my slide rule from those days, but would probably covet the one I think I remember above the blackboard, maybe 5 feet in length.

I was fortunate to take Mr. Martin's mechanical drawing class, which was fairly free-wheeling. If you put the accent on the 1st syllable, you will understand how he intentionally mispronounced it, perhaps to engage the class with some humor. Dealing with perspective in the class really made you think, and I wonder whether 3-D computer-aided design tools have rid us of that opportunity in some sense. Mr. Martin was very popular with students, as I recall. I think some students lifted his VW bug and put it on blocks as a practical joke, then brought it down for him afterwards.

There have been so many remembrances of restaurants (mostly drive-ins) that I also recall. But what I don't understand is why apparently no one remembers what I consider the best - John's Bar-B-Que. I think it was just off Main Street on a curvy street to the west. For me it was a forerunner of my all-time favorite, which is Red, Hot, and Blue, a small chain in the D.C. area, that adds heavy blues music, photos, and feeling to the food.

So many have echoed the praise of our PHS education, and I fully agree. Particularly valuable, as many have said, was English. I recall so fondly Ms. Herke and particularly Ms. Rice, who made me think in ways I had never considered, shared a deep appreciation for literature, expression, and the life of the mind, and was probably my favorite teacher. There were many others too. As an adult we lived in an upscale Westchester County town north of New York City, I got involved in the schools (Katonah-Lewisboro district), and ended up spending 11 yrs as an elected school board member. I think my PHS experience had something to do with motivating this commitment (indeed, sacrifice - it was a difficult job politically, with all the demands of parents and taxpayers). Despite the fact that Katonah-Lewisboro is regarded as one of the best districts in NY State, I think our experience at PHS was pretty close.

I learned German from having fun, mainly with Ray Keithley. He had a VW bug - very Deutsch (remember, we were pre-hippy) - and we caroused around town talking mostly broken German, using Katzenjammer-kids (sp?) words or making some up where needed, and about all I remember was laughter. But somehow, it was learning as well as fun. It made me very comfortable with the language - sentence structure, grammar, all that. And that has paid off since we now have many friends from Germany (due to interactions when they worked with me at IBM), with whom we stay in contact. I have even managed to do a short intro in German when presenting a talk in Germany, and everyone thinks I am wonderful for trying (cf. the average American).
Thanks Ray!

Sometime around graduation, I remember attending an afternoon/early evening summer-like party in the backyard of one of our younger teachers. The surprising thing, to me at least, was that we were having gin-and-tonics, or something similar, at a teacher's house. This was very mature, I thought, and extremely sensible in terms of encouraging us to handle alcohol more naturally (a contrast to the way I recall learning to drink beer - cheap beer - in the back of a car at the drive-in). I am sure such scenes as alcoholic drinks at a teacher's party are not replayed today, given the cost and consequences of inevitable litigation, but it sure was a great idea. The Europeans are so much more mature than Americans in some ways.

Gary

Dr. Gary W. Rubloff
Professor, Dept. of Materials and Nuclear Engineering, and the Institute for
Systems Research
University of Maryland
2145 A. V. Williams Building
College Park, MD 20742-3285
tel (301) 405-2949; fax (301) 314-9920
email rubloff@isr.umd.edu
web www.isr.umd.edu/~rubloff/