David STEVENS:  

After attending Sequoya & Burbank in OKC, I was at Owen, Bell & Rogers before graduating Hayden in Phoenix. I hated to leave Rogers before graduation and I missed my friends, but there was a familiar face in Bill Bailey from Tulsa. I became a photographer and met many athletes like Jordan, Starr & McGuire and actors like Calhoun, Hannah & Cruise, politicians (I won't mention any names) & authors like L'Amour & hundreds of others in Television and other walks of life. While attending college, I organized a college band and mostly played the music popularized by American Graffiti & Happy Days. We were also a "request band" and so we played a lot of the Beatles, John Denver, CCR, Eagles, Bread, Oak Ridge Boys, Elvis, Cash & Hag. I learned to build houses and we built a few and rebuilt a few. I designed a few, but never got to build one of my designs. I was really good at laying ceramic tiles and liked making unique designs in a large foyer. I served in the US Air Force and though I tested and got my 3 skill level in Photography & Printing, they thought I'd best serve in Office Administration. While in Tech School, the war ended and the only "foreign service" I saw was Biloxi, MS. I was photographed with the Miss Teen USA, who later became TV's Wonder Woman, Lynda Carter. (only because I was in uniform, I guess) I have 2 sons and a daughter. Though I hate to move, I've lived in most of the western states and a few south eastern states. I now live near Yellowstone Park and often have deer, moose, elk (even a mountain lion 2 years ago) walking through my yard or bedding down behind the tree line. I still think of my school friends & acquaintances as "my best friends" and I like finding distant cousins & old friends and reminiscing or striking up long conversations about new stuff, old stuff or interesting stuff. I enjoyed working on a wide variety of jobs which I prepared for by attending various colleges. A newspaper, a Veteran's hospital, a TV station, a not-for-profit charity, city of Phoenix, wrote several books, owned a rabbitry and a music/book/video shop that was a victim of 11 September 2001. I've enjoyed culture & language and visited Mexico, Canada, Germany & Russia. (Ya Ne Gavaru PaRuski) (maybe?) I hope to return to Sochi during the Olympics. The people were wonderful and I felt a great privilege to be the first American that many people had ever met. It was also great fun to sit on a balcony, sipping tea and discussing the 1950s and 1960s. As an American Veteran, I was honored during the Russian Veteran's Day. (That was weird) A month was just too brief to visit but the memories will last forever. Germany was too Americanized and so was Canada, but Mexico was interesting. Oh, Schwarzenegger was in the Frankfurt airport and I thought about taking pictures, but he was surrounded by so many men much larger than he is. So, I kept my cameras in my pockets, though I was sure I could take him and 2 or 3 of his bodyguards, but probably not all of them at the same time. ;-) I did study Jeet Kune Do with a student of Bruce Lee and later, another student of JKD. I wrote a few songs and performed solo for a couple of years and that was fun, but I always longed for the "band" that could create the sounds I heard in my head. If you remember my brother, he as some US Patents and has a few skills I envy. My sister has dozens of children who call her Mama and she'll probably have hundreds calling her grandma. She married a multi-talented man who is also an excellent cook. I often wonder what I will do in the 2nd half of my life. Most of my ancestors lived into their 90s and GrandMa was 101, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised to equal their best. I hope to be remembered well but looking back, I was a little "nerdy". I recognized the "cool kids", but it never seemed important to emulate them a little more than I did. Most people don't remember me, so I guess I was more invisible than anything else. Daddy always insisted that I have a "cool" haircut, the night before school photos. Thanks Dad. ;-) I played softball in city league for a few years and I had a lifetime .876 on base average and I only struck out once. I pitched and played 2nd base or was catcher. I really enjoyed 2nd and I was also good as catcher, but lacked arm strength to play outfield, but I did make a few spectacular catches in the outfield. I hunted with a Super BlackHawk and I could hit anything I could see. My fast draw measured 4/10 of a second. I learned to bowl and was briefly on a league where my average began at 260, then began to drop off about 10 points per game when everybody tried to help me "improve" my game. My high score was a 284 at the alley at Lackland Air Force Base. I learned tennis, badminton, volleyball, racquetball & golf. Golf was fun and though I was about par, I'm proud of my 3 on the par 4 17th at SawGrass. I learned archery where my average was 59/60. Mostly I credit my teacher who made the Olympics. I often think about taking up archery again. It was fun. I enjoyed skiing, but I just couldn't enjoy a sport where I fell down so much. I always liked cross-country much more than downhill. Ice skating was more fun than roller skating. I liked the Limbo at the Tulsa rinks. I learned Fencing and I am, as yet, undefeated. I was challenged by a European champion with a world ranking in a double match, but after I defeated him, he declared that I "fence like an American" and declined the 2nd match. I took the "like an American" as a great compliment. ;-) Several of my photos were made into billboards near Camelback Mountain, between Phoenix and Scottsdale, AZ. Though I seriously hope to meet again, everyone I've ever met before, some of my best memories involve Donald Hatley, John Speck, Mike Copenhaver, Ronnie Pollard, Gary Neumeyer and Tony Tyler. (Not to mention dancing with Sandie...Expand for more