Sword Drills, Sliderules and Green Eyeshades (eBook)

Chapter 1

Who Am I?

John Denver in his song “Rocky Mountain High” started by saying he was born in the summer of his 22nd year. That is catchy, but I think I know what he meant. I do not know exactly when I became aware of the world and life, but it did not happen all at once. However, I do know I was born physically on a hot, early fall Sunday morning in the Methodist Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, September 28, 1941, at 9:30. My mother said there was no air-conditioning, and she was so glad I came early in the day. She was always telling me that I was her Sunday’s child. There is an old poem about what children born on the various days of the week were supposed to be like. Sunday’s child is “fair and wise and good in every way.” I don’t know about that, but I do know I was her favorite and my siblings never let me forget it. They are all gone now, so I feel safe saying that. I am at this writing 82 years old and glad to still be here.

There have been two major milestones in my life. The first was when I married Peggy, Margaret Anne (Peggy) Lowry, on August 12, 1960. The second and the most important was the day I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, January 29, 1961. There was a third event that also shaped my life, June 10, 1967, the day I graduated from Georgia Tech. There have been many other events and people that influenced me, but we will get to those. Let me say that I believe I have lived in the golden age of civilization and a country with the best political, economic, and cultural environment in history. It has been as close to utopia as we humans will ever be until Jesus returns to rule the earth. We have had wars—hot and cold—and there has been extreme world political tension at times. Diseases like polio have really bad effects on many of us. Our economy has had setbacks. There have been, and are, inequalities both economic and cultural. The world continues to seek perfection without the Perfecter (Jesus) but that is another chapter. For me, it has just been a good ride.

I was fortunate to be born and raised in the South and to grow up in the post-war era. Life there was good. It was or is the Bible Belt. There was an order and decorum to life. People were nice. Most had the same value system. Oh sure, there was crime and there was a certain amount of corruption in government. There were the rough parts of town that you did not go to unless it was necessary. However, you could go to those areas and the police patrolled there like other parts of town. There were not any “no-go” zones. Segregation was still in effect. I never thought it was right and it finally caused a major shake-up in our lives. Nevertheless, South Memphis to me was like being on the TV show Happy Days. I am white and this obviously colored my view of things (NPI), so, I do not know what it would have been like if I had been black. Even though we did not go to school together, we interacted in many other activities without serious conflict. I do not recall much friction. It was not something we spent a lot of time on. I suppose the integration of Little Rock Central High School was the first major racial event I was aware of and spent any time on. Before that, there was the Rosa Parks bus incident in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, which I do not recall being a big deal in my world. We did not pay much attention then. We only had nightly TV news, daily papers, and magazines to inform us. We were not bombarded with 24/7 news and social media. As a teenager, it was not something we thought of very much. However, the Little Rock Central High School integration with President Eisenhower calling in the National Guard sparked a heated debate among my group of friends. Despite my background, I do not believe I am a racist. To the best of my recollection, I have never treated anyone poorly because of their race. Neither have I treated anyone differently because they were gay or Jewish or from another country. I have had people of color and gay people work for me and I don’t think you could find anyone who said I discriminated against them. I do have a problem with what I call “low-lifes,” people who are crass, ignorant, crude, tasteless, and who act stupidly or are in fact, racists. It has been quite a journey for an ordinary boy of modest means growing up in South Memphis. Although some of my high school classmates have certainly enjoyed more success and some have become very wealthy, I have been able to make a better-than-average income most of my life. I have experienced things I never dreamed of as a kid growing up: traveling to China, seeing the Matterhorn, staying at the Ritz Carlton in St. Moritz, Switzerland, dining at the Four Seasons in New York with Bob Beyer, the man who founded Touché, Ross & Co (Deloitte) and trips to Nassau and the Café Martinique. There were interesting people along the way such as the Australian amateur golf champion who wrote poetry about the Outback and the Aborigines. Touring Ireland and finding my mother’s relatives by what seemed to be a miracle. I have lived in five different cities in four states: Memphis and Nashville, Tennessee; Atlanta, Georgia; Albany, New York; and Columbus, Ohio. Interestingly, four of the five cities are state capitals. I also had an apartment in the Chicago suburbs for over six months while setting up a business and lengthy stints in Orlando and Monterrey, Mexico. I have been to all but seven states. With the present situation considering my age and health, I do not know when or if I will ever get to the rest: Idaho, Montana, Oregon, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Wyoming. These pages tell of a few experiences that were really beyond my imagination growing up. For my generation, it turns out, that was not an uncommon story.

I was also lucky to have missed the wars -WWII, Korea and Vietnam. I was just a baby during WWII and too young for Korea, but we watched the nightly news and got a little glimpse of the horror of war. Later I worked with men who fought there, and the descriptions they gave were blood-curdling. Vietnam was another case. Like all guys in the fifties, I registered for the draft at age 18. I had begun college, so I had an automatic deferment from the draft. By the time things heated up in Vietnam, I was married and received a deferment. When the war exploded, we had our son, and I received a further deferment for being married with a child. By the time the draft lottery was instituted I was too old, and I missed Vietnam. It was years later that I realized how fortunate I had been.

So, who am I? First and foremost, I am a born-again Christian. Now there was one preacher I loved who did not like that term; he said it was redundant. If you were born again, you were a Christian, and if you were a Christian, you had been born again. Nevertheless, I use that because in today’s culture many claim to be “Christian” who have never been born again. After all it was Jesus who coined the phrase. I was young when I came to Christ, only 19. I had believed in Christ all my life. Growing up, my family and I regularly attended church, Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, Sunday School, and most of the time, Wednesday night prayer meetings. Later I went to the Methodist Youth Fellowship (MYF). All my friends were Christian; at least they identified as Christian and went to Christian churches. So, the question of “God” and Jesus was never a problem for me. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until after I married that I understood what it meant to accept Jesus Christ as one’s personal Savior and not simply be religious. It was after listening to a Billy Graham radio broadcast one Sunday night that I knelt in my in-laws’ kitchen and turned my life over to Christ. That was January 29, 1961. Life has been quite different since then. I have had my ups and downs, my mountain tops and valleys, but I never forgot to Whom I belonged even when I was going astray. In the end I found that Jesus would never leave me or forsake me and when I, like the prodigal son, turned back to Him, He was always there with open arms. Of course, the Holy Spirit would not allow me any peace when I was disobedient and backsliding. He will not leave you alone if you are His child. So, I began real adulthood as a believer. I am happy to say I am today still committed to Christ and do endeavor to serve Him. A Filipino evangelist I heard once, Greg Tingston, said regarding his conversion and Christianity, “I am not what I want to be, not what I should be, not what I am going to be, but thank God, I am not what I used to be!” A paraphrase of John Newton. I guess that is my confession.

Who I am is heavily influenced by being a Christian; however, my personality is the one I’ve always had I am gregarious, talkative, affable, opinionated, curious, volatile, sensitive, loving, sentimental, affectionate, emotional and smart. I can be harsh and judgmental, but usually, I am forgiving and fair-minded. Most who have worked for me have said I was a fair boss. I think holding a grudge is a waste of time and energy. I am sensitive, but Peggy is probably the only one who sees this. Most see me as tough and fearless. Some say I have a mean streak. I don’t think I do, but I know I have been harsh at times. I do have a temper. I am passionate about those I love and the things I love. I hate being ignored and it hurts me deeply to feel rejection from those I love or have helped. I would not say this, but Peggy told me after reading a draft that I should add “generous” as one of my character traits. I don’t know about that, but I do enjoy giving. And I put this off until now, so I guess I am a procrastinator too.

I am well-read and...