Michael Hale

Happy 30th in advance Nancy. Lol !! All the best to you and yours. Fed those birdies for me, ok ??
Michael Hale

Posted on: Jan 25, 2016 at 11:37 AM

Have a fantastic birthday Jean, all the best to you in 2016.
I'm relocating back to River Forest in mid March, I'll be on Ashland near Lake, close enough I can cab to visit my Mom (in Bethesda off of Diversey and Harlem)...

Peter was a great friend of mine during my junior and senior year. I turned 17 on November 22, 1963, the day JFK was killed. We were all let out of school and I brought Peter to my parents house. The kid was already a prolific violinist and in the school orchestra. I taught him about 7 chords on my guitar, he made the mental leap between the similarity of the guitar and violin neck in no time. In a few months he and a few other friends had a band going. By '67 Peter was up in Milwaukee in "Michael and the Messengers" and had a couple records, in 1970 when I was out of the Army I went up to Milwaukee and saw the band perform, they were sort of a tribute band to The Young Rascals - believe me they were really very good. Pete still playing lead guitar and doing vocals.

RIP Pete, you were a great friend.

Rick was one of Ric Walter's and my "running buddies" back then. We'd get a parent's car, a couple gallons of gas and a pack of cigarettes and head to the South Side where a coffee shop near the University was our hangout. We were a crazy happy bunch, Rick always thinking of travelling and advendures. Rick went to U of I in 1965 and joined some frat, they wanted him for his grade average. His "big brother" at the frat turned out to be none other than U of I and eventually Chicago Bears defensive star Dick Butkus. Rick told me how during the initiation process Butkus really worked him over, rolling him up in a rug and down a flight a couple of times. In 1966 I bought my first really great guitar from RIck, a late 50s Martin D-18. That was such a sweet gutiar to play. After I got out of the Army I heard from RIck a couple times while he was over in Spain, then i moved to California via an iBM transfer. It wasn't long after I got there my Mom called to give me the bad news.

I'll always remember what a character and great friend Rick was, he was always thinking things way out, I don't mean crazy, I mean digging into the WHY thikngs were like they were. RIP old buddy.

Anyone viewing my profile, hope you are well and happy. I'm retired now and married, living in Jackson New Jersey with my wife Nan. We're real animal lovers, we have 7 cats, a dog, 5 parakeets and 10 chickens (free range eggs). I'm still crazy about cooking, music and guitar collection. Here's a shot at Mantoloking Beach in 2011 while I was hunting sea glass, saw this beauty about 8 feet off shore and dove for it. Great windy day.