Steve Rusk:
CLASS OF 1973
Lincoln High SchoolClass of 1973
Seattle, WA
Steve's Story
Anytime anyone asks me what was my most memorable experience in high school at Lincoln I respond with the race riot in the fall of 1971. It was actually the top story on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. Yes, really. I was not involved with the riot. I was a junior at the time and just trying to keep a low profile. Apparently it started with a food fight in the cafeteria between some racist kids. Food was flying. Then dishes. Then chairs. I don't recall if anyone was seriously injured but the next day only about half the students showed up. I was there. I was just interested in seeing how this played out.
There were dozens of other kids both white and black that showed up that didn't even attend school there. I walked in from the gym into a standoff in the first floor hallway. I turned around and walked out. I don't believe there was any violence happening that day and tensions soon simmered down. I saw a kid put a loaded shotgun in his locker. Try to get away with that today. Crazy times. High school today seems a lot more dangerous.
On a more favorable note I have plenty of pleasant memories from Lincoln. Call it a blessing or a curse but I remember lots of details and events from those times. I remember a lot of names. Especially of my friends I had at the time and the girls I had crushes on.
I'll refrain from using last names. unless I'm talking about faculty members. People I mention might not like having their last name used.
There was a set of twins, Barbara and Brenda. I had a crush on one of them. I'm not sure which one. I couldn't tell them apart. She was in one of my classes and would say hi in the halls. I occasionally passed her on the sidewalk on 45th St and she would smile and say hi. I didn't know which twin I was addressing so I felt like banging my head on a telephone pole for being such an awkward dork. Then it dawned on me one day. What if they were both saying hi? No way. Whats the chance I could be that lucky?
I was in Mr. Rideout's drama class for six semesters. It's the only class I ever got straight A's in. My buddies were across the hall in Gas Engine shop. I was in Drama where lot's of pretty girls were and I actually made friends with them. My buddies were able to tear apart an engine and put it back together where these days I have to look at a YouTube video about flushing a radiator. Oh well, there were the girls.
Drama class was in the little theater, a few doors down from the auditorium. Being a theater there was no assigned seating so I could sit next to just about any of the pretty girls and pretend I didn't have a crush on them. Annabelle, Anita, Candida, Mary, Lynn, Kelly and so on. I was either friends or casual acquaintances with these girls and if my buddies saw me speaking to one of them in the halls I gained some respect. When they would ask "How do you know her?" My response was usually "I don't take Gas Engine shop."
Let me clear one thing up. Even though I had crushes on all these girls I only had a crush on one at a time and I don't think any of them knew I had a crush on them. So I think I was a faithful secret admirer.
It ...Expand for more
wasn't all fun though. In my senior year year my oldest brother died. I would try to act all cool like I was coping but my school work was suffering and I was missing a lot of classes. I wasn't familiar with the term PTSD but I think that's what I had.
The school counselors weren't aware of what I was going through.
I started dating Kelly. She helped me forget how sad I really was. I didn't have enough credits to graduate. I had to settle for a GED a year or so later. I have never attended a reunion. My name was never on the list of people to be contacted.
After high school I got a job at the place in Pioneer Square that made all the letter jackets and letter sweaters for all the local schools and colleges. I had a studio apartment at 34th and Fremont by the bridge. Ninety bucks a month for four years. They converted the apartments into offices in 77 so I moved into a house with some friends near 40th and Corliss. We called it the Mars Hotel. It was the name of a Grateful Dead album. Some of these friends were on the gymnastics team at the UW. They had some acrobatic friends. A few of which were jugglers. One night during a kegger at the house a guy was on the porch juggling flaming torches. This attracted a lot of passersby to just come and join the party. This was quite typical of the time I lived there.
I spent a few summers in Alaska working on fishing boats and processor ships. Not my cup of tea.
I've drawn pictures since I was little. It's always been my favorite hobby. I never went to art school but I'm pretty much self taught. I was always dabbling at cartoons. I'm the guy who puts the work related cartoons on the company bulletin board. I lived near L.A. for a few years and learned to run printing presses and do darkroom work. Working in print shops during the 80's and 90's I would get some of the cartoons published in newsletters and print my own stuff. I would sell my own publications and did quite well. I met my wife in a print shop.
In the 90's the entire printing industry did a nose dive with the dawn of home computers and printers. There was a time when there were as many small print shops as there are Starbucks today. I now work for the State Ferries. Been there since 2005. No plans for retiring anytime soon. The money is okay but the benefits are excellent.
In 1994 my wife Rhonda and I built a large house in Kingston with a big yard where we raised our three boys. The oldest, Jared, 28 graduated from Western with a degree in journalism. Logan, 23 is an auto body mechanic. They share a house in Bellingham. The youngest, Eli, 17 is a senior in high school (as of Oct 2019) but he's in the Running Start program so he's attending classes at Olympic College.
I work 10 hour days 4 days a week so I always have 3 day weekends. My leisure time consists of playing guitar along with painting watercolor landscapes, pretty faces and figures. (Steve Rusk Watercolors on Pinterest. I've got over 70 of my own paintings posted) Please look me up there. Also "steveruskwatercolor" on Instagram.
I know this was a long, rambling post so thanks for reading if you made it this far.
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