Larry Merriam:
CLASS OF 1961
Zanesville High SchoolClass of 1961
Zanesville, OH
Larry's Story
Thinking back to summer in high school, I didn't have a clue how my life would unfold. I had already decided to go to Marietta College and get a degree in Petroleum Engineering. I wasn't dating anyone yet in high school. I was kind of a one date wonder in high school anyway; they'd go out with me on one date and wonder - why did I do that? I had an older brother who was a ladies man and a party boy. I couldn't keep up with him. We were complete opposites. To the girls he was catnip - me they treated more like kitty litter! I was shy. I was a jock and photographer. So I played football and took about 2000 pictures a year for the yearbook and school newspaper. My senior year I finally found someone who'd go out with me more than once, Linda, so we went steady that senior year. It was hard to stay together after high school and we slowly drifted apart.
After my brilliant academic career in high school - I wasn't in the top 5%, but I was in the "one who others tried to cheat off of" category (However, my handwriting was so bad they normally gave up) - I did go to Marietta College, on a shoestring. I got a Shinnick Loan and a McEntire Grant. I played football and that added another Grant-in-aid. Add in the money from working at Stinard's Drug store (at 50 cents an hour) and I was all set. Couldn't afford to join a fraternity. The ratio of men to women was 5 to 1, so I didn't have to worry about dating - no money, no women.
Linda did come down to homecoming my freshman year. It was a disaster. Jim Dennis who was attending Marietta went home and got his girlfriend at that time, who happened to be my cousin. On the way down Jim was playing with a hand warmer, it was cold that day. He dropped it under the back seat and caught the seat on fire. They were going through McConnellsville (where my dad was born.) She pulled over at a building and ran in looking for water. They dipped water out of the john while the firemen in the building, it was the fire station! were getting into action. They got the fire out and they made it to the ball game.
I got in for one play; freshman were allowed to play at a small school like Marietta. In fact half the roster were freshman. Although I was a defensive end, they put me in for an offensive play. The first team end was a basketball player who only played because he was tall. He had been hit and was hurt, again. The second team end was a freshman like me but who had a bladder problem and had gone back in the locker room to go to the john. The coach looked at me and said, Merriam you're an end - get in there. The third string quarterback, also a freshman was playing because the first team quarterback who just wasn't any good; (He went thru his entire 4 year without ever being sacked. That was because he'd always throw the ball away so he wouldn't get hit. He did have the record for the most interceptions.) had been taken out. The second string quarterback was good, but the line wasn't and he'd get hit a lot. He was out recovering from a bad sack. Anyway, the quarterback called the play. It was one I'd never heard of. He said it's a new offensive we just put in this week. (We had a new offensive about every week, really.) He said just go deep over the middle and I throw the ball to you. It was a beautiful catch over my shoulder, followed by a desperate leap over the others teams beach since the ball was way out-of-bounds. I didn't trip and fall so that was good. My one shining moment at homecoming.
As far as having any spending money it was what I earned during the Summers. I worked as a Culligan man after my 1st year. Engineering required 11 extra hours to graduate so I always had a large class load and I was only able to take odd jobs while at school. In the dorm that second year. My roommate had continued playing football and was considered cool, so he joined a fraternity and left the dorms. We had a couple other guys that had jobs around campus and I'd sometimes fill in for them. My favorite part time job was working in the kitchen and serving meals at different sorority houses. In return I got dinner. You'd help the cooks then serve the meal and try to eat while the girls ate. If they wanted something they would ring their little bell and you'd have to go find out what they needed. My favorite time was on Sunday. The cooks were off and the soroity girls would cook.
Second summer I worked for Oxford Oil Company at $1.25 an hour, I was in tall cotton then. Junior year I moved off-campus to cheaper quarters with my "king of the nerds" roommate. He was a really good roommate - he was a good cook! They had been adding more women's dorm space so the male female ratio was closer to 3-1. As an upperclassman I now had a shot at dating.
This is when I met my first wife; in an art class at Marietta. I guess I was looking for someone to settle-down with. My senior year we got engaged , which lasted two years while I went to Grad school at Penn State and she finished her degree at Marietta. I took a job in Ventura, California and we got married 3 months after that. After 4 1/2 years of working in the Industry, I was given an opportunity to try my hand at teaching, something I had never thought about doing. But I decided to give it a try. So I was back in Marietta, Ohio and close to the parents. We started thinking about starting a family. My son, Chris, was born in 1971 in Ohio.
Then I left teaching when the department head retired and I didn't want to work for his replacement. That took me to Oklahoma City in 1972 and I'm still here living in the same house. When we moved to OKC I had told my wife, "Don't worry if you don't like it we'll probably only be there three years." She replied, "We haven't been anyplace for three years." You expected to move a lot in the oil industry, that's just how it was.(I had worked summer jobs in Houma, La. and Carpenteria, Ca. and I had spent 4 months in Houston, Tx. with my first full time job. I'd changed companies and moved to Bakersfield, Ca. before teaching, so I had really moved around a bit. So it was a surprise to suddenly stay in one place.)
My daughter, Lara, was born in 1973 in Oklahoma. Getting married hadn't been a big life style change, but having kids was. Before having kids I'd driven coast to coast a couple time and crisscrossed the country north to south at 4 or 5 different places. I didn't think about all the traveling but I have been to all but three states, Delaware, Wisconsin and North Dakota. The kids got me into youth soccer and softball coaching - eight years coaching soccer both indoor and outdoor. Travel was mainly visiting relatives. We didn't have any within 900 miles, but if we went over 1000 miles in any direction we had relatives. In-laws in Washington state, brother Bob in California, Mother in Florida, younger brother in Atlanta, sister in Springfield, Ohio and many relatives still in the Zanesville area. Managed one trip to Europe, on expense account, to Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France and England. Then my wife, who'd become a jeweler, had a business tri...Expand for more
p and we went on to Japan, Hong Kong, and China.
Archaeology is something that has been very much a part of my life since 1981. I had found my first arrowhead in my backyard when I was about 7 years old. I would find some just because I was always looking down. But, I didn't know how to hunt. Then I found out my brother-in-law was a big arrowhead hunter. I kept asking him to take me hunting when I would visit Ohio. Finally in August, 1981 he did. I was in Ohio for my 20th high school reunion. There was a cornfield behind my aunt's house where I was staying. My son, then 9 years old went with us. It was hot as August can be hot, but we were wearing jackets to protect out arms from the corn stocks. But we braved it and all found at least one nice point, we were hooked. That would replace soccer as my main recreation activity over the next 27 years. About 20 times a year we would head for the wheat fields of western Oklahoma to hunt artifacts. The way to hunt arrowheads is in freshly plowed fields after a good rain.
My brother-in-law also got me to start buying artifacts. That became a big time hobby. I was recruiting at Marietta and Penn State for my company, so in April and October I'd tag on an extra week and hunt arrowheads in Ohio and see relatives. My plan became to see my older relatives while they were alive rather than wait for a funeral. It has been a good plan.
During this time my first wife and I kind of drifted apart. After 28 years of marriage my wife got bored with me and we divorced. We stayed on friendly terms. Why not --she was the mother of my children and besides she moved in across the street to live with a much older widower.
After a few months, I decided I wasn't the single type and tried to re-enter the dating scene. Cultural shock! - kind of like the early part of "Sleepless in Seattle." After four months of that I met someone I felt I could be happy with just her. Three months later we got engaged and married four months after that. For a honeymoon, I took her to something really exciting - my high school reunion in 1996. They don't call me "Mister Excitement" for nothing. (Wait they don't call me "Mr. Excitement".) I did also take her to Niagara Falls so it wasn't all that bad. That was 15 years ago. It's been good for both of us. I have been lucky to find her. And think about this, my new wife had to put up with living across the street from my old wife for much of that time. That has been the source of many good jokes. That's where they got the idea for the show "Reba", at least that's my story and I'm sticking to it - I should get royalties.
In 1993 a virus attacked my heart and I started having problems. In 1998 the company I was working for closed the OKC office and we were all let go. Things were slow in the Oil patch, so I retired with a disability. People say that retiring is like starting a second life and it's true. Your identity used to be where you worked - now it's not. Mine became my hobby. My son and I had started going to Indian Artifact shows in the 90's. I would introduce us as "Larry Merriam and my son Chris". But now Chris is better known and is introducing himself and saying "and this is my Dad." In 2004, my son and I wrote and publish a book on archaeology about The Spiro Mound Site here in Oklahoma. (It can be found in the Muskingum County Library if they didn't sell it at a friends of the library sale. The book is hardcover, over 400 pages with 161 vintage photos from the 1930-40s. "It is a real book" my friends would say when they first saw it. There is also a copy in the Smithsonian Research Library. Check it out! And visit our Merriam Station Books web site.)
My daughter went to college in Washington state to be near her mother's family and her cousin. She ultimately got her Masters degree from Wyoming in Geography. After living in Mesa, AZ. She got married and moved back to Washington state. Now she has invented something called the Bra Barrette and is selling that. (As seen on the QVC home shopping network on May 27, 2010.)
After 8 1/2 years of retirement, I ended up going back to work part-time. A man that used to work for me asked me to come to work at Dominion Energy, which was for sale and had lost a lot of people. I agreed, saying I could work part time. Many people thought this would be difficult having a boss I used to boss. I told them this would be my revenge - I'd get even showing him what it was like to have a difficult employee working for you. I'm now doing about 28 hours a week working 4 days taking one day off. It keeps me out of the bars and off the streets. Well, I never go to bars, so it keeps me off my big fat Lazy-boy chair.
This is like having a third life. Not worrying about having a career, working hourly and being the oldest person in the office is a new experience. Anything that comes up I can say, "been there - done that", they can't prove me wrong. It is good to interact with the people at work and work on solving problems. Old age and experience can overcome youth and energy. And at least it keeps you sharper than sitting in the lazy-boy watching Jeopardy.
On the weird side I haven't been able to pursue my main hobby, hunting arrowheads, because I can't stand the hot Oklahoma days in the wheat fields. This is because I don't sweat on my face! It started with the virus that attached my heart. I still collect artifacts and read a about archaeology a bit from my 12,000 book library.
Kaye and I like to travel when able. I have to worry about the heat. Between the TSA and the airlines, flying just isn't any fun. We like to cruise- in boats (not cars). Alaska is our favorite, but Kaye also likes the east coast of Canada. We are scheduled to do the Panama Canal in the future. If you visit my photos you will find some evidence of our travels. What I really like is to get on smaller ships and take small excursions. Whale watching is fun, but my favorite was the jet boat ride up the Yukon River from Eagle, Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada. We first did this in 1997. There was an occasional light rain shower and so everyone stayed inside except me. It was so peaceful and relaxing.
This love of being on a boat surprises me. Growing up for a couple years Dad had an interest in a houseboat on the Muskingum River. You could move slowly up and down the river with all the comforts of home. I didn't see the point. We later had a speed boat the Becky L, named after my sister. I could never water ski because I have high arches and couldn't get the skis tight enough, but we did have a board that you just stood on. That worked okay.
UPDATE, After working contract at an hourly wage for 4 years they came up with a Permanet-Parttime position. I have to work a whole 30 hours a week, but somehow I thought I could manage - so now I'm a Linn Energy Emploee. In August we took my first paid vacation in 13 years. Of course we took a cruise. This time on a small ship - cruising Lake Michigan. It was a lot more fun than it sounds.
Well now you're up to date Larry
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