The  Dot.Compleat Hare 

                Some serve  with no  thought of being glamorized by the media.

Thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses descended on New Orleans as soon as the government settled on the new building regulations. They paid their own air fares and expenses, arriving fully organized as a vast team: some to handle logistics, and others skilled in building whatever was required: rooms, roofs, etc.

 My neighbor Larry Svelmoe, an elder, can build an entire house by himself, but devoted his time to restoring kitchens.

Other religious organizations worked selflessly, but I know first hand about this group through my neighbors. All in all, they restored 500 homes, and will return soon to do a 1,000 more.

Witnesses spend no time knocking on doors and proselytizing when they do these things. They just come, do the work, and leave without fanfare.

On the other hand, they know that if you build doors, they will come.. A little Jehovah’s Witness joke there…. Badum. 

George Wilson, all-time icon, checks in with……..

Two guys at Home Depot are looking for their wives. One young and one old pushing their carts around. when they collide. The old guy says to the young guy, “Sorry. I’m looking for my wife. I wasn’t paying attention  to where I was going.

And, the young guy says, “That’s OK. It’s a coincidence. I’m looking for my wife, too. I can’t find her and I am getting a little desperate.”

The old guy says,” Well maybe we can help each other. What does your wife look like?”

The young guy says, “Well, she is 27 years old, tall with red hair, long legs big boobs and she’s wearing tight white shorts. What does you wife look like?”

The old guy says, “Doesn’t matter. Let’s look for your wife,” 

Chuck Blore e-chimes in with….…

Lisa Burnett a 23 year old San Diegan was visiting her in-laws when she decided to go grocery shopping for them. Several people noticed her sitting in her car after leaving the store, with her eyes closed and holding the back of her head. One woman, concerned about her, walked up to her car and tried to rouse her. Lisa paid her no attention and kept on  desperately holding the back  of her head.

Then Lisa opened her eyes, but looked very strange. The Samaritan opened the door of Lisa’s car and saw that the young girl was still fearfully holding the back of her head.

When the woman asked her if she was okay she replied hysterically that she had been shot in the back of the head..

The woman called 911. When the paramedics arrived, Lisa refused to remove her hand until they finally discovered that she was holding a wad of Pillsbury biscuit dough ..

It finally came out  that Lisa had put the canister of dough in the back seat where it overheated, exploded, and blew the wad of dough to the back of her head. When she heard the explosion and felt the impact of the biscuit dough, she thought she had been shot.

Lisa passed out from sheer relief that she didn’t have to hold in her brains. 

I hadn’t been on the air for years, when in 1994, I read in the paper that

                                “Willie Jones has been killed!” 

Willie Jones, a Lincoln High student with a 4 point grade average, the captain of the wrestling team and president of his senior class was dead, killed in a drive-by shooting.

Willie was headed for Stanford with a full medical scholarship, when his life was snuffed out. He was standing in a public park celebrating his graduation with fellow grads when shots rang out from a passing car and he went down, dying within minutes.

It was 1994 and my last gig had been in 1972. I was still high profile, making public appearances at large events. In 1980, Gannett did some research that showed me still top of the mind both in San Diego and Tijuana, nice to know but, in my mind it was over, and my brain was no longer wired to think of myself as a personality until….Willie was killed.

.           The age old question: What was it about fate that allowed a brilliant young man to almost get there, then be taken away so brutally and seemingly without reason? People have lost their religion over that one. What was God doing to us if he was a loving God?

Of course there is no answer and it’s a hang-up for those who take this question too much to heart? I never did, because I was not the kind to allow myself to be snared in that trap. The stark headlines came and went, but instead of avoiding that trap, buried feelings about Willie  began clawing  their way to the surface

I did a good job of cramming them back down and, to be honest, I might have forgotten and moved on, but……A few weeks later, I was downtown, walking around Horton Plaza, when I ran into Bonny Kutch, a major PR operative. She routinely asked me how I was and I let go with my buried anger about Willie.

Concerned, she said, ”Harry, put on a campaign to raise some money for the family.” PR to the max, she quickly edited herself., “There is a new kind of school. called Charter Schools. I’m doing pro bono work for The Charter School of San Diego.”

She told me her charter school is just a store front, but with dedicated teachers. School counselors watch for kids who are about to drop out, and tell them,” Stay in school. I want you to go to a school called The Charter School; of San Diego. They have teachers who will work around your schedule and make sure you get your diploma.” What can the kid say? The counselor has all the answers. What could I say? I landed in front of the San Diego Radio Broadcasters Association, literally begging for air time for Willie and the Charter School of San Diego.

I must have hit their collective nerve. They topped me, giving me 2 live 60’s an hour simultaneously on all of the local stations. They weren’t finished. They persuaded  the San Diego Auto Dealers Association to underwrite “The Day of Hope.”

The event coincided with the grand opening of the San Diego Auto Show, at the massive Convention Center, an imposing setting for both the listeners and the thousands who would go to the show.

In a zone that day, I pitched for money in memory of Willie Jones, telling thousands how great he had been, and the senseless tragedy that had befallen him. I described the novel concept of the Charter School of San Diego, that it was a safety net designed to scoop up drop-outs, and, possibly, was the solution to the tragedy of potentially violent youngsters, trapped in the dead end mean streets.

By the end of that day, emotional listeners  pledged almost $100,000.

I contacted Governor Pete Wilson, asking his support. Pete jumped at it and validated charter schools in a State of the State address, supporting them while they took their first baby steps.

Since then, charter schools have morphed into far more complex systems. Major corporations are underwriting, and placing them on high school and even college campuses, channeling gifted poor kids onto career paths. A radio or TV campaign isn’t the be all to end all, but. if you launch a righteous idea over the air, it will take wing and fly to places you never imagined.

What was I thinking? Fueled by the frustration born from the tragedy that had lost us this one irreplaceable young man, I endeavored to replace him with thousands of bright kids.  Quixotic, but I enjoy tilting at wind mills.

Willie’s four killers were caught and sent to prison. It turned out they weren’t even aiming at Willie, but at another kid who they felt had dissed them.

A third of all black males drop out of school.

Suggestion for keeping all kids in school.:

Re-create a pre-kindergarten schedule for 4 year olds. getting them into the school environment early where they can get grooved into their ABC’s, learn colors. and numbers. It also liberates young parents to go work.

             Cut off high school at the tenth grade. .The last two years of school are usually a repetition of the tenth grade, superfluous, and boring. Many kids don’t want to go to college. Use the money saved to put the youngsters who want to work on a job path.

Channel those who want to stay in school to 2 years of community college, placed among older, more serious students,  better preparing  them for college..         

     Learning prevents one from going astray”….

                                                                                  Ancient Chinese proverb 

I  was a wild kid in school 

When I was 7, I used to sniff Coke, but the bubbles went up my nose, making me sneeze so I started drinking it…………Badum..  

Gary Allyn called me with……..…

I was watching a football game last weekend and my wife and I were discussing life and death and I don’t know why but I said to her, “Just so you know. I never want to live like a vegetable, dependent on some machine and fluid from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug.

She got up, unplugged the TV, and threw out my beer.