Bio, 2014: Kathy Mack
Although technically I didn’t attend SHS, I consider myself an honorary member--grandfathered in, so to speak. This isn’t realIy a bio---more like a stream of consciousness ( ha ! ), but I wanted to “ring in” with my thoughts and memories of Stillwater and what it meant to me to live there for awhile, and what fun experiences I had, and all the great kids I knew. You’d be surprised at how often I’ve thought of you all.My times in Stillwater are like a jewel, an oasis, in my life’s memories---a great time in America: simple and innocent before we were all spit out into a changing world.
It was just like the TV show “Happy Days”---crushes, saddle shoes and bobby socks, slumber parties and Friday night lights.
Who was our Richie Cunningham ? Who was our Fonz ? There was even a malt shop---I think it was called “ Malt Shop” ! I still remember the taste of those malts and haven’t had any as good since---icy cold and served in a real glass.
No one drinks malts anymore. I guess we all go to Starbucks now. I see on the trusty web there’s one in Stillwater.
I spent most of my time at my best friend Ann Berry’s ( “Jay” in those days ) house. We were both junior high cheerleaders.
The time I went to try out, we were lined up in the wings of the stage in the school auditorium. When my turn came to audition, I got so scared I turned around to leave and said, “ I can’t do it ! “. Virginia Gage was behind me. She grabbed me by the shoulders, spun me around, said, “ Get out there ! “ and pushed me onto the stage. Ha, ha, I had no choice at that point but to do my routine. Thank you, Virginia !
I still remember watching my mother sew the big gold “S” on the front if my uniform. I wish I still had that little blue corduroy dress--not that it would fit me now. If my memory serves me right, we took 1st place at the cheerleading championships ? I couldn’t do one of those jumps now if my life depended on it.
Yes, Ann always loved to dance and was very good at it. I still remember her excellent version of the cha cha. I’m sorry the years haven’t been kind to her--she was such an attractive person at one time, but at least she’s still got rhythm.
Her brother, Steve, was so cute even the teachers swooned.
Gayla Foster ( ne Wagner ) was also in our group and a cheerleader, too. I think we TP ed her house one Halloween. Gayla---always so genteel and kind to everyone. I hope you’ve had a happy life.
When Wiley Cook called me, he asked me if I remembered him. I said, “Of course ! “ and immediately got an image of a “flat- top” and two skinny arms sticking out of a short sleeve shirt---a nice guy.
I also hung out some with that crazy Judy Hoyt. Her grandmother used to knit her the most beautiful, one of a kind sweaters, sometimes with a matching hat. Once when I was spending the night, she walked in on her parents “ in flagrante delicto “. Not being the reserved type, she started screaming. Jeez, her dad got mad ! He came running out ( he was dressed ), and nearly clobbered her. I was standing there frozen to the spot, terrified, a deer in the headlights.
I also remember handsome Doug Foster who called me “Scab”, Mike Stokes, Scrib Messenger ( Scrib, I am an INFJ according to Meyers-Briggs ), the “Cutie”burg twins, Ronnie and Donnie, Beverly Voss ( Bev, I read your poem at Dos Gatos---very nice. ), Connie Glover, and many more.
If I still had my saddle shoes, I would have them bronzed !
My life has been a roller coaster ride---full of highs and lows.
Like us all, I have lived through complicated times---the Vietnam War, the Kennedy assassination, Civil Rights, Women’s Lib, the Sexual Revolution, 9/11, etc. I didn’t get into drugs to any extent, but I DID wear patched bellbottoms. However, I starched and ironed them---so there was some confusion there.
My interests include art, literature, fashion, interior design, psychology, true crime stories, movies, animals, cooking, and people watching ( a fascinating pastime ). Like Ann, I also enjoy dancing and, in spite of being somewhat arthritic, am told I’m pretty good. I am drawn to exotic environments, but then get spooked. People tell me I’m funny---funny as in ha, ha, that is. Well, the other kind of funny, too.
I was devastated when my father was transferred to the Pentagon, and we moved from Stillwater to Virginia just outside Washington D.C. I went from this cute little town where I knew everyone to being the new kid at a HUGE suburban high school near a large metropolitan area---took me awhile to work my way back up.
I have always enjoyed art and in HS I would occasionally do some high class school skipping ( bad girl ! ), take the bus into DC and go to the National Gallery. I would wander around looking at all the paintings---Rembrandts, Picassos, Van Goghs, every great painter worth seeing, until it was time to go home. Of course, I got busted a couple of times.
After HS I was accepted on the basis of a portfolio at Pratt Institute in NYC ( the best for art at the time ), but did not attend. This is the one big feather in my cap and also a big disappointment at not going.
I have been married twice and divorced twice, 7 & 19 yrs. respectively. Three times a charm ? I have one son who lives in Tucson, Az.
I have seen the black hills of South Dakota, the Hoover Dam, the Grand Canyon ( more spectacular than you can imagine ), the Painted Desert, the Petrified Forest, the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico.
I have run ( yes, run ! ) up the steps of the Washington Monument, been to the Cherry Blossom Festival ( when all the blossoms fall off, the ground looks like it’s covered with pink snow---a beautiful sight ), seen the Vietnam Memorial ( very moving ), Mount Vernon, the Eternal Flame, Arlington Cemetery and the Smithsonian. I have been to the Lincoln Memorial ( beautiful at night ), the Jefferson Memorial, attended the Civil Rights March on Washington, walked by the White House and President Kennedy’s casket in the Capitol rotunda ( very sad ), and been to the opera at the Kennedy Center.
I have seen the Mona Lisa and Michelangelo’s Pieta in person, ridden the subway in NYC and a cable car in the Swiss Alps, got stung by bees in Paris, France, gone sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, gambled in Las Vegas, ridden across the Golden Gate Bridge, discoed at the famous “ Carlos and Charlie’s” in Acapulco, and water skied in Acapulco Bay.
I have seen Woody Allen, Elvis Costello, Billy Joel, Eddie Money, Jay Leno, Diane Schuur, and Little Richard in concert, where I danced in the aisles. In clubs, I have seen the Kingston Trio, Ian & Sylvia, and B.B. King.
I have also seen the road shows of The Fantasticks, Cats, Les Misérables, and La Cage aux Folles.
I don’t have any “tats” but do sport blue hair and fingernails. ( I still CONSIDER getting a tattoo but can’t think of a place that wouldn’t wrinkle. Anyway, it hurts and they’re expensive. )--just kidding about the blue hair.
In closing, I don’t have one single bad memory of my time in Stillwater. Sometimes I would like to see you guys again and, on the other hand, sometimes I would like to keep my memories the way they were--perfect and frozen in time. As we all know, things change and it isn’t always easy to recapture situations.
If the “ long and winding road “ never brings me back to Stillwater, I hope I see you all at the big Malt Shop in the sky, where we are “ forever young “, still healthy and wide-eyed, and the world is full of promise.
Love and Best Wishes to you all,
Kathleen Mack a.k.a. “Scab”
P.S. I hope the reunion is a big blowout and you all have a great time !
©2009 Stillwater High School Class of 1964