The Wichita Group: A Most Remarkable Bunch
Dear Editor:
David Haselwood ’53 (“And Then You Go Deeper,” spring 2004), Eugene Bales ’56 and myself shared an apartment our last two years at WU. We remain friends, and my oldest son was named Stewart Eugene Lyle after Bales and George Stewart ’54, who is now deceased. During the last 20 years of his life, he was the most knowledgeable registered gemologist in the San Francisco area. Bales is professor emeritus of philosophy at Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. At one time in the 1960s, I counted 15 WU graduates living in Sausalito alone.
One final tie: About two years ago, I drove to Grass Valley (a venue where I had been a featured poet about a year prior). I went to hear the nationally renowned poet Gary Snyder. I arrived a bit early and the host, whom I knew, said Gary was doing a sound test and asked if I would like to meet him. I was delighted.
I was introduced, and as I shook his hand, I said, “You know, you and I have friends in common.” He said, “Like who?” I said, “David Haselwood and Mike McClure fs ’53 (“Once Upon a Velvet Eternity,” fall/winter 2003-04).” He said, “Don’t tell me you’re another of those Wichita boys?” I indicated I was. He said, “Well, you were all a remarkable bunch.”
Jim Lyle ’54
Yountville, Calif.
LaPaz and the Jinx Gang
Dear The Shocker:
Great magazine as always. I loved the Look Back section and wanted to let Anna Perleberg (who wrote “The Computer Age Scrolls Through the Jazz Age,” spring 2004) know about Lincoln LaPaz ’20 and the Jinx Gang. The Jinx was a tombstone with a picture of a cat on it. As long as South- western (College) was in possession of the stone, the jinx would remain and Fairmount would lose. But LaPaz and his gang obtained the stone and blew it to pieces.
Brian Wells ’87
Chicago, Ill.
Editor’s Note: John Rydjord’s A History of Fairmount College describes the Jinx: “On this sinister slab was pictured a smug, black cat, wearing a black bow tie (see photos below); and, below the cat, the score that humiliated Fairmount (a 41-3 football defeat).” In 1917, “Link” LaPaz ’20 posed as a prospective Southwestern student in order to “case” the Jinx’s hiding place. He later shimmied down a ventilator shaft to triumphantly steal the Jinx. While its destruction by dynamite didn’t help Fairmount football, it was a red-letter day for school spirit!
Thanks, Brian. Good luck with your sports bar, Crew, opening in Chicago July 1 (see worldsgreatestbar.com).
