Less than zero

Do you remember all that (you pick the adjective) music I listened to in the late seventies early eighties. Like Devo, and The Clash, Led Zeppelin and other children's music. All those lyrics are stuck in my head. Nearly every day I remember one because of something someone says, and I usually have to check myself to keep from finishing the line in the lyric.

Speaking of that time, I was/had just finished up high school. In high school I had a teacher that made a real impression on me. One of only three that I can remember the names of. He had a VERY dry wit and had seen all that the teenage species had ever come up with. He wasn't going to miss a thing you ever said, nor would he let you give him ANY crap. He motivated kids to give their all, all the while shaking his head at what amateurs we were. He called girls muffin; not as a come-on, that would never have passed his lips, but as a sign of sincere appreciation for what girls of that age really are.

He taught me a lot, and I worked hard to please him. He was also my best friend's dad, but that NEVER mattered to either of them. I mean that my teacher treated his son just like any other student, and my friend treated his dad with real respect.

Over the years we maintained some contact, and this last year I got a chance to work with him once again, nearly thirty years after I left high school. He played a great comic role in a wonderful musical about a silly TV show. He was perfect in the role.

I got an email from his wife a few days ago. He has inoperable cancer, and his prognosis isn't very good. The lyric going through my head now is, "It's a shame about Ray" because it really is.


Here he is doing what he loves, putting a smile on people's faces.