James Bass:  

Born December 6th 1953 on Lover's Lane in Wytheville Virginia to James D. Bass Sr. and Francis Bass (Hudson). While my full name is James D. Bass Jr. I normally go by Duane but in some yearbooks you will find me listed as Jim or James and in another Duane. While living in the north end of Columbus Ohio I attended Hamilton Avenue Elementary 1st through 3rd grade and then we moved to the east end of Columbus. There I attended 4th and 5th grade at Leawood Elementary on Hamilton Road. Then I attended Sherwood Junior High School now called Sherwood Middle School from 1967 through 1969. Yep, it was me who busted the glass window in the music room I think in 1969. I paid for that dearly. Also, this is where I met my first girlfriend, Diane Christian. I still think of her often. Then I went to Walnut Ridge High School from 1970 to May of 1971. I would have graduated in 1972. My best friends at this time were Jeff Christian, Ronald George, and Uncle John. Later in life I learned that Jeff Christian was killed by the police in a drug raid on his residence. I miss him often. I quit high school and joined the US Army (one of those dumb moves that has saved my butt over and over again due to the free health care I get.). I was stationed with the 1st Armored Division in Illeshiem, West Germany from 1971 to 1973 and served with the 4th Battalion 35th Armored Brigade Bravo Company as a M60 Patton Tank driver and loader. Later, I was moved to Headquarters Company and served in a Redeye unit. When I returned from Germany I went to work for my father who was in the car business. We opened a number of car lots on the south and west end of Columbus under the business name A&A Auto Sales. It was an interesting time selling used cars and when needed repossessing them. I did enjoy the cat and mouse game of tracking down cars of people who did not pay. Around 1985 I decided to go back to school and went to Devry Institute of Technology on Alum Creek Drive in Columbus, Ohio and graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. I was working 60+ hours a week and going to school full time and I do not know how I did it. I moved to Newport, Kentucky in 1989 and went to work for Convergys a telephone billing company and subsidiary of Cincinnati Bell. In 2001 I became a friend of Bill W. and he is still my best friend. Laid off in 2004 I decided to open my online business selling historical press photos on ebay and eventually became the largest seller of my type. My ID is nky-photos. Also, this year I took a Paralegal course at Beckfield College in Florence Kentucky and graduated with as a Phi-Beta Kappa with a GPA 4.0. In 2005 my fiance Donna L. Bass, (my former wife), went to sleep and passed away. It broke my heart her sudden passing. She had just graduated herself from Beckfield with a Paralegal degree. Briefly I taught at Beckfield but I guess the students didn't care much for me as a teacher. To bad I kind of liked it. In 2008 I married a wonderful women who treats my like a king, Patricia Bass. In 2010 I went back to my first love which is playing historical wargames, see the photo of me in the 1970 yearbook in the Strategic Tactical Army Wargame Club, and opened a game store in Covington Kentucky. My address is Newport Games and Photos LLC, Covington, Ky. (Updated Feb. 2012) In November of 2011 I began going to OA AKA Overeater's Anonymous after many years of fruitless attempts to lose weight. As of April 2013 I am 65 lbs lighter and 7 of my 9 medications have disappeared. It is truly a miracle. friends have told me I look 20 years younger and I do feel a lot better not hauling all that weight around. On August 25th of 2012 I attended the 40th Reunion of the 1972 class of Walnut Ridge High School at Gatsby's in Gahanna Ohio. I th...Expand for more