July 10, 2020

If you have autocorrect on your phone you'll probably get a kick out of this.

Gary Trudeau is "on vacation".  I thought he was retired.  Anyway, they're running Doonesbury cartoons from a long time ago.  They're still hilarious to me.  This is part of a series on the dumbing down of college admissions.

The passing -- or possible passing -- of Dave Flesner '60 (see below) got me thinking about phone books.  Remember them?  They got bigger and bigger until the white pages and yellow pages became separate books.  Then they disappeared.  The internet made them obsolete.  Phone numbers were at the tip of your fingers -- until they weren't.  I had hoped to contact the Flesner household and delicately ask some questions.  Did not happen.  All of the free on-line directories have now been monetized.  I wish I had a phone book.

Larry Slayen '62 is looking for a copy of Mr. Staff's Jackson Elementary 6th grade class from 1956.  I've got Mr. Kroll's class above and Mrs. Warren's class below, but no Mr. Staff.  I reached out to the Class of '62 specifically, but was unsuccessful.  Perhaps someone out there has access to a sibling's photo.

We got a lot of feedback from last week's photo of Blumer's Bakery.  Here's a San Diego Union ad from March 18, 1961.  They were still using the old Juniper telephone exchange.  I love the line at the bottom: Open Every Day including Sun., 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.  Closed Tuesday.

Did I say the #7 bus was headed east in last week's photo?  I meant the OTHER east, also known as west.  No sooner did I mention Palisade Gardens than a photo we've seen before popped up as well as a 1985 Reader article on the skating rink's last days.  Click HERE to check it out.

Gordon Dawson '60 died on April 17, 2020.  He was born on March 27, 1941.

Dave Flesner has apparently passed, as reported by the Crawford Alumni web site.  No other information was available.

Penny Wuest Severson ’66 passed quietly at home, in her sleep, with her family by her side on June 11, 2020. She was a native San Diegan, educated at Oak Park Elementary, Horace Mann Junior High, Crawford,  and Grossmont Junior College. Then she was off to Delta Airlines for the next 34 years. She retired in 2003.  Penny was a volunteer advocate. She was a Candy Striper in her teens, worked at a hospital while based in Texas, and a faithful worker for the San Carlos Library for almost 25 years. She constantly encouraged her family and friends to volunteer.  She was also a Brownie leader at Hearst Elementary School in Del Cerro, and she drove braille students and their dogs to and from lessons.  Penny was a breast cancer survivor for seven-plus years.

James Parish ’75, an Associate Professor of Mathematics at Southern Illinois University, passed away from natural causes on April 20, 2020.   Jim was born in Augsburg, Germany, the youngest of five children.  He received his Master’s from University of California Santa Barbara and from there went on to graduate from the University of Chicago with his Ph.D. in Mathematics. Jim taught at the University of Arizona before moving to Edwardsville where he taught at SIUE for more than 30 years.  He was well-liked and admired by his colleagues, students, and friends.  Mathematics was his passion, but he had many interests that included reading, music, cooking, and the love of his two furry companions.