scared me to death and I rode home screaming to my parents that something was chasing me. Somehow they figured out that I was running from my own shadow. My older brothers teased me relentlessly.
As a teenager, what were you interested in?
As a teenager, I did all sorts of things. I ran track and cross country (mediocrely) to keep in shape for wrestling (which I participated in from 7th grade through my sophomore year in college) also played a little baseball but wasn’t much good at it. I played baseball. Wrestling was by far my main sport the one I won tournaments and medals and honors in and pursued until the beginning of my junior year in college, when I finally quit.
I played trombone in the band and violin in the orchestra. Also played briefly in a rock and roll band modeled on the band Chicago (it was a bunch of guys from the band). Played in something called the Hobo Band for a summer job at Cedar Point, a big amusement park near where I grew up. Worst decision of my life was to give up the violin senior year in high school. After I quit, I had dreams about my violin, which I had played and practiced religiously since I was like nine or ten years old. Briefly sang in various choirs, including state and local chapters of Up With People, which, much to my surprise, is still going. I sang a regular solo with our local chapter, “What Color is God’s Skin?” I also acted in the High School drama club. I fancied myself a pretty good actor. So I was very much into the performing arts as well as sports. If I hadn’t wanted to be an engineer more at the time, I would have tried to get into some conservatory somewhere.
Academics?
I was in “accelerated” class...there were few AP classes in my school in those days, but I was in the ones that were offered. I was like today’s hard-charging students before that was a thing. Except I didn’t do it out of any sort of pressure to get ahead. I just did it because I thought so many things were cool and worth trying and learning about.
Did you fit in?
I never saw myself as fitting completely comfortably in any of the circles in which I operated, though. For one thing, hardly any of the black kids that I knew from my neighborhood were involved in the same activities as me. And for the most part, I wasn’t all that close to most of the white kids who dominated the various non-sports activities I was involved in. The people I was
