Steve Bowman:
CLASS OF 1967
Alamogordo High SchoolClass of 1967
Alamogordo, NM
Steve's Story
I was the Annual Staff photographer at AHS my sophmore and junior years. This was not an easy job because it was the days before digital cameras and I had to lug around a camera the size of a shoebox, with light meters around my neck and flash bulbs (remember those?) jammed into every pocket. Thank goodness users of the English language had not yet coined the word "nerd".
In 1965-66, our family hosted Ross Macdonald from Scotland, who I believe was Alamogordo's first foreign exchange student. With the British musical invasion in full swing (Beatles,Stones, Herman's Hermits, etc.) he was an instant hit with the girls, even though he can't carry a tune in a bucket.
Ross is alive and well in Houston, TX and we stay in frequent contact. I played in a band called the Lyres with Gordon Cardell, Charlie Orr, Bob Abernathy, and Scott White. We spent many evenings playing Top 40 rock and roll at the Teen Center while the girls flocked around Ross. The life of an undiscovered musical artist can be difficult at times.
These were the days of hot rods, muscle cars, and speeding tickets from the Alamogordo police. Bob Abernathy and I drove 1958 Chevys - he had a blue two-door with a V8 (283, maybe?) so his car definitely fell into the "cool" group. My car was a four-door six-cylinder "daddy" car. I cursed my automotive plight in high school, but I now wish I still owned that car. Gordon Cardell drove a 1957 Chevy (cool no matter how many doors) and Scott White had a 1936 Ford hot rod, nicely finished in primer gray. Hank Kumpanen approached Fonzie status in his light blue 1965 Plymouth Barracuda with the big "fastback" window.
Does anyone (other than me) remember cramming 3 or 4 guys into the trunk of your car with six more in the seats and heading to the drive-in? I recall seeing a double feature there... "Blood Feast" and "2,000 Maniacs"! I couldn't sleep for a week.
I have to tell a story on Ross Macdonald. After he made the mistake of confiding in me that he was seriously afraid of spiders, I felt compelled to light him up with a spider joke. As fate would have it, I was driving home from school alone a few days later, right after a thunderstorm, when a large tarantula crossed my path. The only co...Expand for more
ntainer I had in the car was a large popcorn box with no lid. I managed to get him into the box and took him home. When I walked into the house, Ross said, "Oh, you have popcorn!" and reached for the box. It was just too good to pass up... so I held the box out to him and said "Sure do... have some!" He reached into the box and when that tarantula skittered up his arm and onto his back, I thought I would have to call 911, although I was laughing too hard to even pick up the telephone. For some reason Ross was not amused, and while he was bashing me repeatedly on the head with the popcorn box the spider disappeared into the living room. We never did find it.
If you have looked at my posted picture, you might conclude that I have gained several hundred pounds. Not the case... the guy in the yellow shirt is my friend Rick. I'm the one in the red checkered shirt, holding a handful of radishes. I have a large garden and Rick and I sell produce (tomatoes, onions, potatoes, etc.) at the local Growers' Market.
After 10 years of practicing law and another 20-something years of managing commercial real estate, I am now semi-retired. I help Rick out in his business part-time and bumble around in the garden the rest of the time. I have been married to a wonderful lady (Lorraine) for 29 years now. We have two daughters who both graduated from the University Near Mom (UNM). One works in Albuquerque and the other is a grad student at New York University (a university definitely not near Mom).
I acquired a taste for travel in the Navy (South America, the Phillipines, Japan, Korea, and Kuwait, to name a few) and Lorraine, the girls and I have been to Europe several times as well as Australia and Canada. Lorraine and I have some ambitious travel plans when we retire, which will be in the next few years (assuming that I don't pitch forward, face down into my Raisin Bran before then).
UPDATE AUGUST 2012
I purchased a 1959 Cushman Eagle motor scooter in May and a mechanic friend is just finishing some mechanical work on it. Fire engine red, losts of chrome, and a genuine kidney-rattler on the open road. My wife says I am in my second childhood, but I believe it's actually my third or fourth.
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