John and I were both tall and one day in PE in the fall of 1960 a coach came in and asked if anyone was interested in playing basketball for Taft. John nudged me and said, "Come on, let's try out." Otherwise, I would never have had the nerve to do it myself. We both ended up on the B team, as neither of us was very good, and that year we won only one game. If memory serves, it was against Granada Hills, who had beaten us 112 to 56 earlier at their gym. But back in our gym we took them by just a point or two. Revenge was sweet.
John was one of several friends who used to get together during high school at various homes to play bridge, and both his parents, Peg and Banner, were very good players. He had a younger brother, David, who attended Taft a few years later.
I kept in touch with John off and on through college; I went to UCLA while he went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He was in the Naval ROTC and ended up flying fighter jets in Vietnam, operating off of aircraft carriers. I ran into him once in 1978 (or early 1979) in a Safeway in West Los Angeles. All I remember from that encounter is that he told me he'd lost a wingman during the war.
With the help of Sandy Malek, I've been able to contact David Rice (now living near Atlanta, GA), who has promised to provide more information about John and his untimely death.
In phone conversation with John's brother David, I've learned that John died sometime in 1986 of an inoperable brain tumor. Wish we knew more details, but that's it for now.
Riley P. Richardson
John and I were both tall and one day in PE in the fall of 1960 a coach came in and asked if anyone was interested in playing basketball for Taft. John nudged me and said, "Come on, let's try out." Otherwise, I would never have had the nerve to do it myself. We both ended up on the B team, as neither of us was very good, and that year we won only one game. If memory serves, it was against Granada Hills, who had beaten us 112 to 56 earlier at their gym. But back in our gym we took them by just a point or two. Revenge was sweet.
John was one of several friends who used to get together during high school at various homes to play bridge, and both his parents, Peg and Banner, were very good players. He had a younger brother, David, who attended Taft a few years later.
I kept in touch with John off and on through college; I went to UCLA while he went to the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. He was in the Naval ROTC and ended up flying fighter jets in Vietnam, operating off of aircraft carriers. I ran into him once in 1978 (or early 1979) in a Safeway in West Los Angeles. All I remember from that encounter is that he told me he'd lost a wingman during the war.
With the help of Sandy Malek, I've been able to contact David Rice (now living near Atlanta, GA), who has promised to provide more information about John and his untimely death.
Riley P. Richardson
In phone conversation with John's brother David, I've learned that John died sometime in 1986 of an inoperable brain tumor. Wish we knew more details, but that's it for now.