Lamar High School

Lamar Arkansas

I went to High School at Lamar High School in 1964 through 1968. I was supposed to graduate in 1968 but flunked out of literature class, the teacher and I didn’t get along, she wanted to teach the Theory of Evolution, not that I have anything against that theory, I just didn’t think literature class was the place to teach it. Things got so bad between she and I my father suggested that I keep copies of all my grades. Except for that class, I was nearly a straight A student, in fact all the kids called me the four eyed professor. 

I was really into Electronics, and my father helped me run electricity into the old Smokehouse that was behind the house, and that was my workshop. Yes, the farm was that old that it had a smokehouse. 

I was always telling my Science Teacher about my electronics project, he asked me to bring one to class, and explain to the class what it was, and how it worked. I built a low power FM radio transmitter and brought it to class and demonstrated it to the class explaining how it worked. The Teacher took a desk in front of the class taking notes. That is how I got the name Four Eyed Professor. I was severely bullied and got into lots of fights.  

The Black Radio on the right was the Civil Air Patrol Radio; I was the communications officer for our CAP Chapter.  

In my Electronics shop. Tube Tester on the left, one of my projects in the center, Battery Charger on the right. 

I was always short, skinny, and looking like a nerd, so I was always bullied. I never backed down from a fight, and I always got my butt kicked. All the kids thought I was crazy, because the next day after getting my butt kicked I came back the next day wanting revenge and I would pick a fight with the kid that whooped my butt, it went on and on like that until one day the bully said, "I like you, you're either a brave punk, or you're just damn crazy, either way I like your spunk" So we became friends, but he still picked on me, but not the same way he did when he bullied me.

My father traded the Edsel for a new 1968 Mercury Montego, a few months later I saw the Edsel in a used car lot. I told Dad about it, and we went to look at it, and he bought it for me. I took it to school and painted it in shop class as a school project.