Beardless blasts from the past

Before I left my old school, I located some old pictures in a yearbook from 1986. I shaved off my beard for the first half of that year - the only time in my adult life (starting when I was 18) when I didn't have a beard - and there were two images of me beardless.

In the above photo, a fellow teacher (the late, wonderful, Juli Palma) and I dressed up as Herman and Lily Munster for Field Day. One of the day's activities was a Scavenger Hunt that included getting teachers to dress up as television characters. My daughter Clare was with me that day, so we said she was Wednesday visiting from the Addams Family.

This one is my official faculty picture. We had a couch in the English office, and I stretched out to pose with a book (On Becoming A Novelist).

And yes, I did work part-time in radio for more than 20 years. Here's the 2003 schedule with me as the Weekend Edition local host. My shift was 6 to noon every Saturday for 21 years. I also did some spot news coverage, and hosting of shows like Morning Edition or All Things Considered during school breaks, and overnight blues and jazz programs on weekends. One summer while the station was looking for a permanent All Things Considered local host three of us rotated hosting duties.

Ah, memories!

Pax et bonum