When did you meet Mickey?
1960
Where did you meet him?
At University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Memory of Mickey
Mickey has had a special place in my life since one morning in early September of ‘60, when he showed up at my digs at U.T. out of the blue, disguised as any other, ordinary, freshman. My name had been on some volunteer resource list given to freshmen, and Mickey had come to have me look over his essay for tomorrow’s English class. He pulled a paper out of the back pocket of his Levis, and I read it through. I then looked at him again, suspicious that my leg was being pulled. But Mickey just sat there on my front steps and looked at me thru those big, black-framed glasses. So I read the essay again: a little clumsy here, a grammar error there, to be sure. But it was nevertheless one of the best freshman English papers I’d ever read. We immediately became fast friends. and remained so the rest of his time in Knoxville.
Decades later, while watching "Amadeus" at the movies and hearing an amazed Salieri say, “This was no composition by a performing monkey,” I suddenly recalled that September morning and I burst out laughing, and I wanted to jump up and shout at Salieri, “Hello my brother — I know how you feel!” My wife Boodles looked at me like I had lost my last brain cell. I had a smile on my face for the rest of that day.
Ever since I met him, not a week has gone by that I haven’t thought about Mickey and his formidable gifts — his fierce work ethic, his startling intuition, his good sense, and most of all, his commitment to helping others with his big heart, all overlaid with an exquisite sense of humor. He was unique in my experience, and he’s been my hero for over 55 years now. I loved that man. We're all going to miss him.
Great story! Thank you for sharing it.