John Rowlands

John Rowlands was a young man when the American Civil War broke out and he was drafted into the Confederate Army.  He found military life not to his liking, so he deserted.  He managed to make it to Union lines where he was promptly drafted into the Union army. He succeeded in finagling a medical discharge, but soon found he was not able to find a job to support himself, so he enlisted in the United States Navy.  After his discharge, he found work with a business man whose last name was Stanley and Mr. Rowlands changed his name.  After such an unpromising start, he managed to win immortality as a journalist under the byline, Henry Stanley in the New York Times which published letters from his trip to Africa.  It was during this trip he was able to locate a missionary who’d been missing for years; approaching him with the immortal question, “Dr. Livingston I presume?”

A Troublesome 12-Year-Old

When I was teaching 11th grade at Simon Sanchez high school at Hagatna, Guam, I dealt with some 17- year-olds who made me *very* grateful for the fact that I'm over six feet tall with a pretty big frame. Deterrence can be priceless.

I recently read about a *very* scary 12 year old, who was attending a school, well over a century ago, in a country, far, far away. His homeland had recently become a part of a much larger country, and this kid's teachers were very strict about their students learning the language of the empire and not their native tongue. This irked young Josef *bigtime*. So, one day, he lured the teacher into an empty classroom, and (backed up by a couple of 18-year-old friends) told the teacher that if he didn't change his ways, Josef and his buddies were going to kill him. (That is far worse than anything I ever heard at either SSHS- or UAHS.)

The Secret of the SS Minnow

Anyone around my age will remember the SS Minnow as the name of the ship of the crew and passengers were on for a three hour tour (a three hour tour) when the weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed...etc., etc.

Most people would assume that the wrecked ship was named after a very small fish. WRONG! I recently learned that the ship's name was a jab at the then head of the Federal Communications Commission, Newton Norman Minow- remembered today for his "vast wasteland" speech. Mr. Minow is still with us aged 88. No word on his opinion of "Gilligan's Island."

Astronomy … and pizza?

There is considerable debate as to whether Pluto qualifies as a planet. I rather hope so. There is a great way to remember the names of the planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. My Very Excellent Mother Just Sent Us Nine Pizzas.

Maury

I like to think that at this point in my life, it takes *quite* a lot to really shock me. Today, I represented a young woman in court who wanted to get a Protection Order against the father of her child. When I asked her if they'd established paternity, she replied, "Yes. We went on 'Maury'". I made no comment.

Bolt from the Blue

Life sometime hits you with a bolt from the blue. I was in court about an hour ago, wondering if yet another client was going to quit on me (which she did) when I got a call on my cell phone from my brother, Boyd, in Colorado. I thought, "What the heck is this about?" (I do not have much contact with Boyd- no further comment here) He informed me that he'd received a call from our brother, Bruce, that Bruce's eldest son had just taken his own life. I never had much contact with Bruce or with my nephew, so I have *no* idea what brought this on. I certainly feel sorry for my sister-in-law, who is a very fine lady. I phoned my father for my usual daily check-in call, and of course, made no mention of what had happened. Who would imagine that a 94 year old man who outlive his college age grandson? It is a very sad situation.

Another Columbus Classic

If you live in Columbus, Ohio, and win the lottery, moving from Parson's Avenue to Upper Arlington makes a whole lot of sense. Ironically enough, Tremont Road curves through UA and at a point is about 30 yards from the house I grew up in. Richard Celeste was Governor of Ohio a few decades back, and if somebody would've purchase "Brushstrokes in Flight" (and taken it several thousand miles from Columbus), Mayor Buck Rinehart would've been a very happy man.