My Artistic Friends Over The Years: Part1, Stuart

 

Drawing of a fish I did in 1948, age 8.

Before I even thought of being a writer or artist, I already was. 

I had been getting drawings I did, especially of trees in charcoal, constantly posted on the bulletin board at  East Ward Elementary School.  The same was true of short stories I wrote. On the left is a drawling I did called "Night Flowers" I was at West Whiteland Grade School at the time and also age 7. I like to drawl early in my boyhood.

West Whiteland Grade School I attended from January 1947 through December 1949.  In January 1949 I was back attending The East Ward Elemetary School in Downingtown.

     
     At East Ward, in the fourth grade, I wrote and performed a puppet show, "In the Jungle" as an assembly.  I also drew the Jungle sets and made some of the puppets.

In 1953 I was in an operetta, something about a farm, playing one of a dancing chorus of Scarecrows. 

     I was the sloppy scarecrow on the right side of the second row. (My friend Ronald Tipton was on far left side of the same row. My other close friend was kneeling on the right in the first row, just below me. His name was Staurt Rayfield Godfrey Meisel. Actually his name is still that and he lives in Florida now.

     I met Stuart in third this grade at East Ward Elementary in Downingtown. He, Ronald I became close buddies in those years.  Stuart and I seemed drawn together. We both served as flag monitors, meaning that on the morning of each day (except when t rained), we raised the Stars and Stripes up a pole in front of the school.

In sixth grade Stuart and I began writing and publishing a newspaper. It was called, "The Daily Star", despite the fact we only put it out weekly.  We sold it in the school hall during recesses and lunch for a penny. We had talked Mrs. Yost, the school principle into allowing us use of the school mimeograph machine to print multiple copies. We made enough money from sales to throw a class party at the and of the year

     Being out of Grade School, and going on to the Downingtown Junior High, did not stop our collaboration. We began writing songs together using his father's old cylinder dictaphone.  Meanwhie, during, this time I had written a song on my own, titled, "My Little White Lamb" that I had managed to get published in New York. It was eventually recorded on Ronnie Records be one Ben Tate.

    Stuart and I didn't publish our songs, but I used one as the title of a musical play I wrote at age 17. This was "Ya-Ha-Whoey", which was inspire by a Walt Disney Presents feature called "Sports Goofy". In it Goofy was presented in differed scenarios that usually ended with him crying, "Ya-Ha-Whoey", such as when he did a ski jump or wrecked a racing car. All our verses ended with the cry,"Ya-ha-ya-whoey".

   

During out youth we played a lot of Baseball and we always walked to and from Junior High together, except on Wednesdays  For somme reason we always got into an argument on Wednesday, swearing we would never speak to one another again, but by Thursday we would make-up and be close friends again. (Photo taken at Stuart's property in Downingtown 1957. I am on the left, Stuart's in the middle and Ronald Tipton is on the right.)

     Some time in this period we decided to forma Rock 'n' Roll band.  We were more suited to being a Salvation Army group playing on the sidewalk at Christmas Season. I played trumpet, Stuart played the baritone. Teddy joined with his trombone, Gary on a saxophone and Bill on drums.  Playing Christmas music would have been problematic since most of us were Christians, but Stuart was Jewish. His family were the only Jews in down

     He took lot harassment for his religion, especially so from the teachers at the Junior High. World War II was over and the pictures of the holocaust had come out, yet this ridiculous prejudice remained in our county. It was only one of many prejudices that swirled about us.

Stuart and I grew up and went separate ways as adults, bur with the invention of the Internet, Stuart and I were again able to collaborate. We wrote several plays this way in the 2000s: 

                    

    We have also done short stories together. After all these years, Stuart remains a good friend. Some of our song lyrics from our plays have appeared already on Facebook.  Who knows, we may still write more!