Conversations: I Hear From LARRY KAPLAN (Lincoln H.S. Alum) Part II

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Larry,

I don’t recall your being a twin. You lived in the Sunset, didn’t you?

Your life sounds wonderful–and I’m happy that you’re doing exactly what you set out to do.

I went to San Jose State, too–but I think you used to surf El Granada Beach occasionally–and so did I–and I knew you at Lincoln. You told me you wanted to design surfboards and doodled in the notebook I was carrying (I’m a writer, you know, and that’s what writers used to do, carry paper. Now they carry laptops).

June
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Good morning, June

Remember Bruce Orchid at Lincoln? BOrchid.jpgHe and [my sister] Barbara dated. He was Pres and she was Vice Pres of the “Student Body.” I was “Director of Athletics” (which served to get me three lunch periods). I think we were a class ahead of you.

I consider most of what I do as “Art Projects”, and I am extremely visual in orientation.

Everything I do for my clients gets seen over and over again and it’s really important to me that it the work is appreciated. The artist in me values that appreciation more than the money received for the project. That’s true whether it’s a yacht I’ve just repaired or a piece of artwork I’ve just delivered.

Your site is fun for me to peruse, and it’s obvious that your passion for writing is abundant. I’m in contact with a few friends from Lincoln and i’ve mentioned your site.

When we went to Lincoln, we lived on 39th Avenue between Rivera and Santiago. Bruce Orchid and I would meet every morning at 39th and Rivera and walk up the hills to Lincoln…when we didn’t drive to school…I had a ’50 Ford Woody. It was blue and I usually parked it in front of school by the stop sign because the Woody didn’t have a reverse gear that worked very well and by parking at the stop sign, I was able to simply pull away in first gear, etc.

I paid $35 (thirty-five) for that Woody and sold it later for $250. Today, that car would be worth $45,000.00. I know because I look at them all the time. I want another one.

At Sanazay State, I lived at 555- South Eighth Street (a block from campus) and I was a ‘hasher” at a sorority. Pretty fun. Really fun. One of my roommates on Eighth Street was the head Ref at last year’s Super Bowl–Bill Leavy–great guy.

Well, that empties my brain.

Larry
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…Conversation to be continued….