10 Things You May Not Have Known About Me

Taking a cue from Lynn Leeming, I'll scour my brain for stumpers.

1. My parents came real close to naming me "Kenneth". Had they done so, Carole would not have married me, given her hatred of the name.

2. I got caught cheating on a test in the sixth grade. My good buddy (smarter than I) was helping me along. I wrote him a note that said, "I'm going to deliberately miss the last two questions so our scores will be different." Well, he stupidly left the note on the floor and Mrs. Manning found it. The next day, she called my buddy and me out into the hall. Her first question to me was (remember, this was 1959), "Tim, do you go to church?" You couldn't have cut me to the quick more with any other question.

3. As a kid, I was hiking along White Rock Creek when I picked up a broken bottle. It sliced my right palm open just under the middle finger. Since no one had told me about first aid, I rubbed dirt in the cut to stanch the blood flow. Not the brightest of moves. The palm got infected (surprise) and my family doctor said we got real close to amputating the middle finger.

4. I had only two dates in high school. So painfully shy. I was so self-conscious about my skinniness.

5. I did not sleep in an air-conditioned bedroom (other than in a motel) until 1970.

6. I've played golf twice in my life. Combined score? 284.

7. In college, I was deeply in love with Claudine Longet, wife of Andy Williams. Uh, she later murdered her boyfriend after leaving Andy. That has not changed my feelings for her in the least. Just kiddin'.

8. When in my 20's, I was into marathoning. I would get up at 4:15 some mornings and run completely around White Rock Lake. Saw a lot of weird stuff, including a guy standing next to the jogging trail...dressed in a tux with a top hat and a cane. He looked like Mr. Peanut on the Planters' jar.

9. The hardest thing for me to overcome during my 36 years of teaching was my nerves. I constantly got nervous before the first bell rang, repeatedly wondering if I were good enough to teach. This went on even through my final year. The nights before opening days of the school year were the worst. I would lie awake and wonder if it were possible to change professions at a moment's notice.

10. During the rock 'n roll years of the '50's, I enjoyed all the hits. But I also got into my father's music; Guy Lombardo, Sammy Kaye, Tommy Dorsey. I don't think anything I did brought Dad more pleasure than the time we spent listening to those old LP's on the record player.