Michael Shannon:  

Wow! Fifty years is a long time to recollect old memories. I'll go with the flow and put down an outline bio for anyone that might want to know what might have happened to one of their classmates. I pictured myself as a shy fish in High School - probably because I 'arrived' in Decatur during my seventh grade years and all of the cliques were already established. After High School I enrolled at Indiana University. During three years at I.U. I emerged from my shell to some extent but still didn't know how to talk to girls! Gads! Those were the awkward days. I did date Shirley Harden for a time but it seemed more friendship than anything else. Sorry to let that cat out of the bag Shirley! After three years at I.U.my Dad, who you might remember owned the Blackstone Bar, had an unexpected 'fire sale' and could no longer afford to subsidize my education at the state "Party School". I went to Tennessee and lived in an upstairs flat with some Good Ol' Southern Boys until I graduated with a B.S. in Biology/Chemistry - I always was and shall remain a Geek.. I then joined the Army during the Viet Nam era. As a Second Lieutenant, Infantry I finally drew a lucky card and was sent to South Korea. After Korea, my newly found leadership skills placed me as HQ Company Commander at Ft Ben Harrison in Indianapolis. Not being a career soldier, and realizing that a 're-up" meant a fast trip to Southeast Asia, I married a young lady - Deborah Love- a Registered Nurse from Ft Wayne and returned to school in Tennessee to complete my Masters. Yes, I finally got over my shyness with the soft and tender members of our species. We left Tennessee with our first child, Michael Andrew, and headed West to Tucson where I finished a PhD in Agronomy and Plant Genetics. From there I joined the USDA as a Research Geneticist in Riverside California. Just prior to our move to California, our daughter, Tara Jeanine was born. It became obvious that I needed to quit collecting degrees in as much as they seemed to be directly and highly correlated with increasing family members! One DHS memory in Tucson was meeting Al Townsend. My folks were visiting and Al was waiting our table in an upscale restaurant that I might never have entered on a graduate student's salary. Al mentioned that Katherine Bisc...Expand for more