For me high school was about friendship gained and lost, hormones and first dates and trying to make it through school with some sense of my abilities, though mostly intangible, intact. Not easy for a non-traditional student in a very traditional school. The only class that played to my strong suit was English and some days, it was barely enough to keep me awake. Algebra was downright painful (As Jerry Wallace 63" may remember. He was my tutor).

I loved reading books that were forbidden, going downtown to an exotic African store where a "cool cat" (at least to this 15 year old) turned me on to the Ray Charles and Betty Carter duet and James Baldwin. My parents had only heard the likes of the brilliant Lolita and Lady Chatterley's Lover, so I was safe reading Giovanni's Room about homosexuality and the slightly racy Goodbye Columbus. My parents thought that must have had something to do with Spain and the founding of the New World. Don't ask.

But best of all, are my memories of the Park movie theater. The Saturday matinees were mesmerizing. What started as a simple childhood escape became my lifelong love and work. Later, as a teenager, came the Friday night ritual. It was more exciting, forbidding. In the dark, as a group, we watched the passions, adventures and adult conflicts of others as we grappled with our own awkward adolescents. Trying to figure out life, what a wonderful way to spend Friday night. It was the best.