Curtis Esmel:
CLASS OF 1972
Haverhill High SchoolClass of 1972
Haverhill, MA
Curtis's Story
All your teachers are dead! Stand staring, peering forward from one's own personal Continuum towards that inevitable, imperceptible End Game knowing all too well it looms up ahead... Somewhere... Sometime... but not now. This gift of life is not, should not be about dwelling upon the unknown moment of transition. For those precious drops of intervening time remaining are to be held close to one's heart & soul. Cherished and lived to the utmost possible. Whoever one may be. - C. Esmel - 9/4/2023. - Oh, well. So much for reflecting upon mortality. -Hopefully we get a wicked lot of ❄️ snow. I want to go Backcountry Skiing! Bored as all FRIGIN GETOUT! Up to chapter 15 on my book. Hopefully that'll be done by spring, then see if anyone's interested in publishing it. Everyone who I've confined in that's read the rough manuscript likes it. See what happens. Writing is easier than trying to get published. Stay alive out there. Sorry, can't receive messages, not doing the upgrade for now. So anyone sending a message, I apologize, Please try P.O.B. 1384. I'm in Derry, NH 03038.. -- I've been on this site a year & no one's been brave enough to mail me a letter yet. Oh, well --- Yeah, well. I retired due to the pandemic. My profile photo is from about 2018, posing with my Fender Hendrix Monterey Stratocaster. Still play guitar, bass & some synthesizer. Not in a band presently. If I record some newer original music I may post it online somewhere. My playing style is sort of a mix of improvised heavy, progressive, fusion & bluesy rock. Whatever that is. Heavily influenced by 1970's rock music (of course), like Zappa, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Rush, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath,, Jeff Beck, and the list goes on & on. Anyways, moving along. I usually do occasional instrumental jam sessions with other musicians I know. Worked briefly on the side at a friend's recording studio in Newburyport decades ago. That's long gone now.. Haven't seen anyone from HHS Class of 1972 in decades, with the exception of Normand Fournier when he was visiting family & friends about a month before his unexpected passing in 2014.. Unlikely there'll ever be any reunion. Those went out with Ronald Reagan.. Some people seem brave enough to post photos here. So... I Backcountry ski, (skiing in the woods, not in a lift-served area), & hike when I can. Mostly in the White Mountain National Forest. Locally it's usually Pawtuckaway & Bear Brook NH State Parks, Lake Massabesic at the Audubon Center & sometimes Beaver Brook Association in Hollis, NH area. Gave up cycling, too painful on the body now. Still go to rock concerts, usually at the Tupelo Music Hall here in Derry, NH. I did see the late Jeff Beck with Johnny Depp in early October 2022 at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway in Boston. Great concert. Can't believe Jeff Beck just passed away from a bacterial infection recently. One of the greatest electric rock guitarist, like Jimi Hendrix & Frank Zappa. They'll all be missed. Divorced since the 1980's, have 2 children, 3 grandchildren. Live in Derry, NH for over a decade, not far from my son. --- FYI: Passings. Brian Goldsmith, childhood friend...Expand for more
& neighbor, d. March 15, 1974 in a car crash in Florida where he went to college studying Oceanography. He moved to Hampton Beach end of Junior year. The funeral service was at St. Rita's Church in Haverhill. He is buried in St. Patrick's Cemetery on North Broadway in Haverhill. James S. Noyes., d. October 3, 1994 from gunshot wounds while on duty as a NH State Trooper. I knew Jimmy from grade school at the long ago demolished Hannah Duston School which stood on Monument Street opposite HHS. There are multiple memorial online sites for Jimmy. One is nhsp.dos.nh.gov. Normand Fournier,, my best friend from HHS, lots of adventures & misadventures, d. November 18, 2014 from complications after surgery in Ohio where he lived. A memorial service was held in June 2015 at All Saints Church in Haverhill. He is buried in St. Joseph's Cemetery on upper Hilldale Avenue in Haverhill beside his mother & father. Normand enlisted in the Air Force right after high school as an Avionics Technician training stateside in Nevada, not far from the Las Vegas Strip, for about a year or so. He was later transferred to RAF Upper Heyford Air Base in England,, northwest of London, used by the U.S. Air Force as a NATO base, I believe. The majority of his enlisted time was there. The mainstay aircraft at that time was the F111, which Norm specialized in, & was used extensively in the Vietnam War up until March 1973. Norm did do various sorties to elsewhere around the world while in the Air Force, though not directly in Vietnam that I know of. At one time decades later, Norm was recalled by the Air Force to work on some F111's as he was one of the few in the country still qualified to work on them as Norm had pursued a career as an Aviation Maintenance Technician for the commercial airlines. Norm & his family lived in various locations along the east coast,; Tampa, Florida; Greensboro, NC, & lastly Middleburg Heights, Ohio during his career, which was mostly for Continental Airways. Normand was a very pleasant person, he laughed & joked a lot. He loved riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. He would almost always go to Bike Week in Laconia, NH in June, either riding his Harley all the way from Ohio, or hauling it on a trailer. He was a very good chef. He was known for his killer chilli. He was divorced, but was engaged to remarry at the time of his passing. He is survived by 1sons & grandchildren who live in Ohio last I knew. A short eulogy for Normand. Any questions about Normand please write, I'll try to answer them. Wish they had a Memorial section to post the aforementioned. God Bless Them. -- Ok. If you're looking for any of my brothers or sisters, yeah, they're still amongst the living. I'll probably add more later & do some editing. Just wanted to post so others know I'm still around & about, also to mention the passing of those I knew. Photos (below) are whatever I had on the phone at the time that may be of interest...maybe not. Life in the Sunset Years. For Awhile! -- Oh, well. You never know. If I bump into you out on the trail, don't be a stranger, say, "Hi!" --- In the meantime...Drive fast, take lots of chances!
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