Heights High School

To Everyone in the Class of 65

2024-12-16T13:11:02-04:00

Every year we gain brings wisdom, experience and the opportunity to live more fully. Let's keep making memories worth cherishing and maybe spend that extra five minutes with our loved ones

Cleveland Noir

2024-06-05T14:11:19-04:00

I just finished reading an enjoyable collection of short stories set in Cleveland called Cleveland Noir (part of the Akashic Noir Series). The last story is called "Lenny, but Not Corky". Brings back a few memories.

Israel Under War

2023-11-01T02:12:49-04:00

As I write this the radio here is listing the most recent casualties in this war. This is not my first war here in Israel which is my home and the home of all the Jewish people. I moved here in 1967. I love my home , my 3 children were born here. My two step children are a product of America and do not feel a tremendous connection to the Jewish people though his married son calls frequently to find out how his father is. I have a grandson in a combat unit and as his younger sister says with HaShems help Yudi will protect us The surrounding nations want to destroy us, My mothers cousin were murdered in Hevron in1929 before there was a state of Israel. We gave the residents of Aza amazing green houses, electric and water system water electricity etc in 20005 and we thought that would bring peace all it brought was more attacks They plowed up the beautiful homes we left them destroyed the pristine beach and amazing hotel and used hospitals and schools as the basis of missed attacks to kill us in the most brutal way. And all we wanted was peace to live in our own land. SO we continue. SOmetimes lacking certain things but mostly going on and running to our shelters . Things will be good. You are all invited to visit us here in Israel.

Why I didn't fit in (partial explanation)

2023-10-31T22:14:08-04:00

I'm fairly sure that at least some of CHHS's students, faculty, and administrators made a sincere attempt to figure out M Kinsler without much success. Many people there were kind, but it took effort, and not that many years ago I learned why.

I am face-blind and apparently always was. It's a rare condition having to do with brain configuration: apparently something up there was too thin or too thick. And what it means is that I cannot recognize or recall anyone's face or, in general, their facial expressions. Most of us are able to rely on an exquitely-sensitive and reliably retentative registry of faces we have seen. I don't have such a registry, and this adds drama and variety to one's career and social life.

You can take a face-blindness test devised by Dartmouth's psychology department, and I passed with flying colors. And that's why I seldom said hi to anyone passing in the hallways at CHHS. I did not dislike you--I simply didn't know who you were.

When I was small I could not understand TV detective shows because many relied on the viewer realizing that the police chief was the same person as the robbery suspect., I couldn't tell, so I'd ask my sister, for whom this became tedious. I never wondered why Lois Lane never recognized Clark Kent as Superman because I couldn't, either.

As I grew older, I began to sense that there was something about the rest of society that I could not decode. In the 1980's I'd listen to WCBS-AM in New York, and it was from one of their science features that I learned that I learned about face-blindness. I felt bad for anyone who might be so afflicted and never thought about it again.

Except that maybe ten years ago--and I have no idea why--I found out what was wrong. Natalie, my beloved five-foot-tall Pittsburgh Italian spouse probably did it, having learned to serve as my missing face registry. (She can do anything.)

So there's no cure. There's an on-line face-blindness journal from Britain that once reprinted one of my newspaper columns on my experiences. And that's about it: I can remember people's voices, clothing, and circumstances in detail. But never their faces.

Sorry.

The Monticello Megaphone and the future of mankind

2023-05-05T20:02:18-04:00

I guess that it has been more than a few years since I read a front-page article in the Monticello Megaphone, a four-page weekly student newspaper mimeographed and stapled at Monticello Junior High School, now elevated to Middle School. But it was worth remembering because it was the only article written by an eighth-grader that predicted the date that Mankind would cease to exist. (I was in 8^th grade in 1960.)

I don’t think that the kid had any inside knowledge, for he was using some other news article as a source. The subject was world population, and whoever did the original research calculated that our population would rapidly increase to infinity sometime in 1964. (I don’t remember the date.)

Well, that was fairly substantial material to digest between Homeroom and Social Studies, and it scared me.

I suppose that’s why I’ve remembered it through the intervening 63 years, and now I find that I’m discussing much the same topic.

That’s because I suddenly realized that all of our global problems have been rendered essentially insoluble because too many people are grabbing at limited resources: food, clean water, arable land, rare earths, clean air, firewood, palm oil, and general breathing space.

I’m glad we made it through 1964 despite the Vietnam War, Flipper, and rusty VW Beetles. But nobody was concerned then about population vs the environment, either.

The solution is left as an exercise for the student.

more about the missing and Bobby Mlaker

2023-04-07T20:40:33-04:00

And those are the missing kids I remember. I have no idea why I remembered Debbie Milner's sisters, though I seemed to recall that remembering them was something of a neighborhood sport. I never met any of them.

Someday I will learn enough about Bobby Mlaker to tell his story properly. He was at Monticello JHS with me: a sturdy blond kid who was a star at everything academic and athletic. Then came a Monticello assembly program which included Bobby and Mr Jones, the alcoholic gym teacher. He was trying to demonstrate all the protective gear that our football players wore, so Bobby donned it piece by piece while Mr T. Jones explained it through a faulty P.A. system. Thus I never heard the purpose of the white cloth harness-thing that fits across the chest, possibly something to do with shoulder pads. Perhaps Jones was not fully aware of his surroundings when he fitted the device across Bobby's chest such that it resembled a well-known ladies' support garment.

I don't clearly remember what subsequently happened, but suffice it to say that the entire auditorium rang with laughter. Some kids, including me, cringed at the embarrassment and its likely consequences and remained silent, but I saw at least one teacher who should have known better shaking as she guffawed.

I assume we were dismissed around then, and I never saw Bobby Mlaker after that. Had I been his parent(s) he'd have been whisked off to a private school, never to set foot in a CH/UH school again, and perhaps that's what happened.

I still feel bad about that incident. Natalie, who always tries to see the bright side of things, thought that perhaps his family simply moved. Then I explained that the entire student body attended assembly programs.

Dennis Biggs

2023-04-07T16:19:01-04:00

He lived on Yellowstone Rd, on my way to Monticello JHS (now Middle School, ahem) and I think I went to Noble School with him. A tallish thin kid, he was always friendly.

Debbie Milner (Hattox)

2023-04-07T16:14:57-04:00

Um, everyone was in love with Debbie Milner, including me.

Let's see if I remember all the kids, of whom I think she was the oldest: Debbie, Dapne, Diane, Delores, Denise, maybe another sister whose name started with D, and John Arthur, the only brother.

Debbie had to have been a brave kid, for she'd been almost crippled with polio, which affected one leg and caused her to limp. (My father, David M. Kinsler, suffered an identical condition.)

No matter: she was beautiful and, apparently excepting one Mr Hattox, thoroughly unattainable.

Eddie Miether

2023-04-07T16:02:19-04:00

His family ran Miether's ice cream store (Taylor Rd., I think) and his father was a fine antique clock collector and restorer. Eddie was a classmate at Noble School and afterward, and I saw a good deal of him in my machine shop classes. He was a superb craftsman then and doubtless still is. He was welding a race-car frame together when last seen. (I still cannot weld worth a hoot.)

Jay Baron

2023-04-07T15:53:43-04:00

He was a tall blonde kid, fairly quiet, but with an unfailing sense of humor. He and I would hang out with Rob Kaplan. We last heard from him eons ago when he was attending college.

Ernest Perna

2023-04-07T15:49:05-04:00

He was a small, yet sturdy kid, and he played the accordion in duets with guitarist Danny Kelly. They'd periodically appear in assembly programs and, going by the thunderous applause, were favorably rated by the student body. I liked them as well, but Ernie and I exchanged few words.

Ms McClellen

2022-08-18T16:07:24-04:00

Howard Ollick mentioned the he and the Zitron Twins (Pam and Linda,remembered these 70 years) were in Ms McLellen's kindergarten class at Coventry School. I was there as well, and thoroughly impressed by the Zitrons, which is why to this day I tend to think that all female identical twins are pretty girls.

My mother, Vera Goldman then, went to Coventry School. She'd have been in one of Ms McC's earliest kindergarten classes, and I would have been in one of her last. I have no idea how to spell her name.

My mother had among her many friends two boys. One was Paul Newman, whose father owned Newman-Stern Sporting Goods in downtown Cleveland. The other was Samuel Shepherd, who was convicted of murdering his wife Marilyn in their Bay Village home. The conviction was overturned, but my mother didn't accept that. ("He's guilty as Hell," she ruled.)

Thank you

2022-08-16T22:40:32-04:00

Thank you to the entire planning committee for all your hard work. Great job. I know everyone enjoyed remembering our youth and catching up with our current lives. Venue and food was great. Perfect choices.

Shelly Malkin Bloom

Covid protocol

2022-05-29T14:40:17-04:00

I would like to know what protocols are going to be in place because the Covid numbers are going up up. Are there outdoor areas are masks going to be required our vaccinations going to be required? I'm still not sure if I will be attending because these numbers are climbing and people are not being careful and I've already had Covid twice so I'm just wondering what the class has in mind to keep us protected. Thank you everybody have a great day. I know I won't be coming Saturday night for sure and Friday night is iffy depending on if there's an outdoor area to congregate.

RE: Millikin Reunion

2022-02-24T06:47:12-04:00

Love to come to a Millikin reeunion (actually even willing to host one here in Israel. Any chance of having it on a SUnday or other weekday? Maybe even visiting the old school.

RE: Reunion Question

2021-04-01T01:45:18-04:00

I am requesting the same thing again. I woould really like to attend the next reunion with my husband but we are observant Jews and the whole thing seems like something we can not attend ANy chang=ce of at least part of the reunion being open to observant Jews (who observe the Sabbath)I am sure I am not the only one.

A CHHS Phys Ed teacher: Jean Reimers Martin

2020-06-29T11:19:51-04:00

BORN: Jean Reimers on August 9, 1918 in Cleveland, Ohio; DIED: Peacefully departed on June 13, 2020 in San Jose, California; PREDECEASED BY: Parents: Edward and Flossie Reimers, Brothers: George and Charles Reimers, Sister: Ida May Brinkman, Husband of 67 years: David Martin, Son: James Martin, Granddaughter, Jennifer Beach, and Son-in-law, Ronald Beach; SURVIVED BY: Daughters: Lee Beach of Chagrin Falls, and Judith Martin of San Jose, California, and a Son, Thomas Martin of Elmyra, Oregon; Granddaughters, Betsy Mosgo, Barbara Makee, Megan Jones, and Emily Kavanaugh-Martin; Grandsons: Steven Cannon, Timothy Cannon, Daniel Beach, Michael Beach, David Martin, and Sean Cannon; Great-granddaughters: Hunter Block-Beach, Ellie Martin, Lea Martin, Julia Cannon, Jada Jones, Kiera Jones, Calleigh Cannon, Miranda Cannon, and Violet Beach; Great-grandsons: Devon Martin, James Martin, Benjamin Cannon, Michael Makee, and Cannon Beach; Great-great-grandsons: Caleb Martin and Giovanni Martin; Nieces: Linda Kordes, Barbara Cercone, and Bonnie Brinkman; Nephews: David Brinkman, Dean Brinkman, Daniel Mazzolini, Joseph Mazzolini, and Craig Reimers; Sister-in-Law: Lee Reimers; Daughter-in-Law: Tena Martin Jean graduated from Glenville High School in 1936, earned a bachelor's degree from Ohio State University in 1940, and taught physical education at Cleveland Heights High School for 25 years. Jean married David Martin in 1940 and they frequented tennis courts in Cleveland Heights, Ohio where they lived until 1957. Jean focused her time as a community volunteer. Her family moved to Lyndhurst, Ohio in 1958 to continue raising their four children while she earned her master's degree, majoring in Counseling, from Case Western Reserve University. Jean relocated to Chardon where she served in many organizations. She remained active her entire life by coaching field hockey, playing tennis year-round, where she exceled as a champion, and exercising at the Chardon YMCA until she reached the age of 97 years. She became her husband's caregiver during his nine-year battle with Alzheimer's and maintained her home in Chardon until moving to San Jose, California, in 2017. Her extensive family will miss her dearly and will forever hold her in their hearts. A Celebration of Life will take place near Chardon, Ohio when COVID-19 subsides. Further announcements will follow. Condolences may be sent to: cleveland.com/. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations be made to: Alzheimer's Association, American Cancer Society, The Ohio State Alumni Association, or Mental Health Association in Geauga County.

RE: Race and Cleveland Heights

2020-06-10T03:47:08-04:00

There's plenty of room for behavioral improvement in every race. What I'm advocating is courage on both sides, but especially for whites. Racism is fear, fear of the Other, fear without a rational basis.

There are plenty of people legitimately worth fearing, and that's why we need police. Most crime victims are themselves black, which is why the police ought to be far more proactive in their communities.

Lancaster, Ohio, the whitest city in America, keeps attracting whites from the Columbus area who think they'll be safe here, in one of Ohio's principal heroin distribution center. We are blessed with about as many criminals as anywhere else, but all of ours are white.

RE: Race and Cleveland Heights

2020-06-08T12:48:45-04:00

And good to see your posts Bill

just pointing out the two extreme sides of Black America..

RE: Race and Cleveland Heights

2020-06-08T12:41:25-04:00

Dave good to hear from you. I'm not sure i understand the reference to the brother killed in Vietnam. Bill