Let me start by saying that it's all Dan Talley's fault. Several years ago Dan happened upon the USC campus on some work-related expedition and chanced to pick up a copy of our campus staff newspaper. For the first (and possibly last) time ever, my photograph appeared in its pages. Dan recognized my picture and acted.
Meanwhile, I was minding my own business buried in the lab. Answering the phone, I heard "Hi, this is Dan Talley." Thud. Thirty years vanished. I recognized that name. I recognized that voice. That was Dan Talley! Oh, that's right -- he said that. "Well, hi Dan" I managed to blurt out, too stunned to think of anything clever to say instead. And so, a long-lost school friend was found. Over the next few years Dan and I have exchanged many e-mails, and through him I have reconnected electronically with some other friends from our childhood.
A few years later my parents decided to clean out things that they had saved for me, my brother, and my sister from years ago. Things like old newspaper clippings. Things like report cards.
Things like class photographs.
Dan was in my 6th grade class photos. Through Dan I had also corresponded with Diane West. Diane was in my 1st grade class photos and others. I thought that they'd like to see these pictures so I scanned them and created a few pages for them and anyone else who might be interested. There's not a lot of us who would be interested, but you know who you are. I could put names to only a few of the faces, but I figured Dan and Diane would name others.
Since then this site has taken on a life of its own. A few more photos came from Diane. I went back to Sierra Vista and copied everything they had about us. (The principal and staff were really very generous about it once I showed them what I wanted to do.) Cindy Meier sent some photos. More people identified photos already up.
This past summer I got e-mail from David Feitler protesting my identification of him as someone else in my 5th grade class. He said we were never in the same class, "and I've got the pictures to prove it." David's son had found his father's name on this site. (I hadn't expected our children to find this site of interest, but you never know.) David was one of my close friends because we were both Boy Scientists in training. Not surprisingly we're both scientists for real now. You'll find David's name listed on a few patents awarded by the US Patent and Trademark Office.
As I write this, the Sonora Reunion for the classes of 1969 and 1970 is still in the future, but I'm hoping to go and find some more of you guys that I've remembered from childhood. Even though I lived only a couple of blocks north of Sonora, I never attended it. I ended up staying at La Habra High when the schools split. But I did once represent Sonora at a debate tournament where I was named the best speaker of the tournament. (My partner was Cary Covington who, as you know, did go to Sonora.) Does bringing an award back to Sonora count for being a-little-bit-alumni?
The best part of this effort has been rediscovering old friends who are spread all across the country. Cary is in Iowa. David is in Ohio. Diane is in Georgia. And others.... But I wouldn't know about many of you if it weren't for this little Web site.
So that's why it's all Dan Talley's fault. If he hadn't picked up that inconsequential newspaper years ago, you wouldn't be reading this now. Thank you, Dan.