Michael Coleman:  

Life First, there were two tiny amoeba . . . Seriously, I was born in a nice little town in NE Arkansas called Pocahontas (yes, Pocahontas. Near Oil Trough and Possum Trot.) I consider it my home town and it's where nearly all my relatives live (at least they did back in those days.) Moved to Little Rock AR briefly, but returned soon to Pocahontas. I'm not sure what year it was, but we moved to Columbia MO, and that is where I entered kindergarten in the fall of 1968. This was at Benton Elementary School. I also attended first grade there. I don't recall if it was in kindergarten or first grade, but I had a teacher by the name of Mrs. (or Miss?) Swasson or Swanson or something like that. Benton only went through the 5th grade, making me part of the "Class of '74" there, even though I left before then. Or maybe it went to 6th grade, in which case I'd have been in the class of '75. Whatever. In 1970 we moved back to Pocahontas where I entered 2nd grade at St. Paul Elementary. Even though we moved away again after the 6th grade, I count myself as a member of the class of 1981 at St. Paul High for that would have been the case had we stayed. As it was, we moved to Springfield MO in August of 1975, a week before I entered 7th grade at St. Joseph Elementary. Since that school only went through 8th grade, I'm considered as part of the class of 1977 there. I ran track and played basketball. Then it was off to Springfield Catholic High School, sometimes incorrectly referred to as St. Agnes because of its proximity to an elementary school and church parish of that name. Again, I ran track and played basketball. At the very end of 1978 (my Sophomore year) my father was transferred to a tiny town called Thayer MO. Thus it was that when Christmas break came, we moved. Again, I figured, I'd be going into a new school only days after arriving in a new town. When in the "big city" of Springfield, we went to school regardless of the weather. But in rural Thayer, that was not the case. My siblings and I were all quite puzzled as we spent most of January at home when there was nary a sign of snow anywhere. I later learned this was because of the soft, soggy rural roads that the school buses would get stuck in. Paved roads? What paved roads? So in January of 1979, the middle of my Sophomore year, I became a Bobcat at Thayer High. I had a small circle of good friends but for the most part I was just one of those quiet smart kids. It didn't seem to make much difference that I was on the basketball and track teams (there's a story behind my track involvement, but I won't bore you with it here.) My cache went up a bit when I went to work at the local radio station. Suddenly, I was a real radio DJ and so gained at least some notoriety. Not that most people cared. I had but one girlfriend, Susi. Being a Swiss exchange student, the relationship was doomed from the start, obviously, but she meant a great deal to me. In 1981 I went off to attend the University of Missouri at Columbia. I was majoring in Electrical Engineering. I quickly discovered that my calculus skills were not up to snuff and I was sinking fast. I looked for other options. After one semester there, I transferred to Arkansas State University in Jonesboro AR. I knew lots of people there since it was close to both Pocahontas and Thayer. I kicked around undecided for a while but eventually settled into the College of Communications. I was comfortable w...Expand for more