As a Kid...
BABY / ADOLESCENT / STUDENT /
SAX PLAYER / ANTI-WAR ACTIVIST
August 4th '48 to November 7th '67
I was a fairly normal Hoosier Baby Boomer:
Born in Hartford City to really great parents,
although like most kids - I didn't figure that out until many years later.
Mom and Dad gave me a genuine love of many things including:
Hardwork - Communications - Spirituality - and Medicine
In addition to their guidance, a handful of events had an impact on my life's course:
- Getting my 1st job, driver's license, and making new friends...
- The deaths of many seemingly unrelated people in several different ways....
- JFK, RFK, and MLK~~~~~>
- A little Angel in Germany~~~~~>
- A Beatle named John, a Sister named Karen, and a King named Elvis~~~~~>
- Gramps, Dad, Lenny Bruce, and Marilyn Monroe~~~~~>
- Grampa Duffey and 400+ in a Chicago crash and Oklahoma bombing~~~~~>
- The time I spent in the service of Uncle Sam's and Salvation's Armies...
Want to get a feel for what my old home town is like today?
Just click the picture and go for a cyber-visit.
If you don't count selling GRIT newspaper and donuts door-to-door, my first job was Chief Usher at the Jefferson Theatre. See GTE's funny looking tower to the left, above? To the right is I&M's skyscraper. The Old Jeff was behind that huge white monolith. The grand old movie house is gone now - replaced by the new Convention Center Hotel, but memories still linger in that space like ghosts who've lost the physical world in which they roamed long ago!
Doorman "Shep" opens my pathway to the World of Broadcasting.
I discover a REAL treat behind the concession stand: Live Theatre.
Want to read or produce a play I wrote and directed?
Download a copy of Anti-Goal by clicking here.
If you've ever faced a crowd of people as they applauded your work or achievement, I don't have to tell you what that feeling is like. For those of you who have not experienced such a moment, I doubt whether I can relay the feeling to you with words. Perhaps you can feel it by combining a variety of unrelated experiences:
If a parent, recall how pride filled you - the first time you saw your baby.
Not a Parent? Then think about a new pet or car. It's not as good, but it'll do.
Next, add the embarrassment you felt when told your fly is unzipped!
Boost your chagrin by realizing your last WC visit was hours ago.
Now, remember the self confidence you felt when the training wheels came
off your first bicycle - and you made it around the block without falling.
Finally, feel the heat that burned your face and back and everywhere else
exposed to the sun after you napped while still very pale early in the spring.
Keep those images in your mind and visualize yourself on stage in front
of a huge audience. Then click the audio icon as you close your eyes.
It's kind of a euphoric experience isn't it? It's also like a powerful drug. I recognized that and feared it was something which would surely consume me with its addictive power. To a lesser degree when I appeared as an actor on stage, and to a much greater level when the applause were for my writing and directing of ANTI-GOAL, it scared me to death.
Even before the cheers faded for my play, I began to cry as hard as I had ever cried. At that moment I knew I had a power - but one which would ultimately control me. So, while it was indeed a world I loved - it was one in which I dared not to live. I realized I must use my skills anonymously, so I could not hear or see or feel the audience reaction. That was the moment I made my choice - between the two worlds I was torn.
NHHS Geek of '66
Between my broadcasting and theatrical activities, plus my job and homework... there was little time for normal school functions. If former classmates at New Haven High School remember me at all, I suspect they have an image of a weird geek (it's called a "Dweeb" today) who blew a mean saxophone and blew up the school chem lab - whoops.
Click the sax
to hear my old NHHS Dance Band.
Sounds of the science experiment gone bad are not available...
I considered offering an .AVI or .MOV file of an atomic blast,
but decided against it. It would be out of context.
My explosion merely broke test tubes and a few windows and started a small fire.
Cut to 1967. Vietnam was going full tilt. Through much soul searching, I decided I could kill and die for god. I would die for my country but not kill for it. My parents, both with proud military backgrounds, surprised me beyond words by supporting my position.
There I was: long hair, wire rim glasses, and a protest sign. I was one of the first kids in town to petition the draft board for conscientious objector (CO) status.
I won my appeal and was branded a "C-O." Before anybody could call me a "chicken," I shocked everyone by volunteering immediately for the draft! Click the GRAPHIC to see what happened next.
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Copyright © 2001 by Duffey Cybercations
Duplication and Distribution with Attribution Encouraged