Herb McLure

Profile Updated: August 26, 2024

Residing In:	Birmingham, AL USA

Spouse/Partner:	Jane Rosio McLure

Children:	Kelly Kuykendall, born 1965, Hannah Kuykendall, born 1997, Zoe Kuykendall, born 2000. Molly Wasko, More…

School Story:

Jane invited me to the GAA dance in December 1960. I skipped a basketball game to go with her and got kicked off the team as a result, ruining my chances to play in the NBA. We have been married for 48 years. Pete says I should also point out I was kicked off the baseball team. That was for going on a chorus trip, something I have never regretted. Lots of girls, long bus rides, overnight stay at Grand Canyon compared to a baseball game? I was unhinged in general my senior year but survived it. Learned to play guitar so Dan Clark, George Gabbard, Alan Smith, Hartley Smith and I could have a "Kingston Trio" type group. Still play the guitar and sing but only for myself--unless, of course, the survivng members want to reform the group.

Having read the entries of others now, and reflecting on my memories of high school and growing up in Tempe, I am struck by how much the people and place influenced how I have lived my life. We were sheltered by a safe environment but still had the freedom to try to be unusual. Of course, that usually meant being unusual just like everybody else. Even now that I am aware of their limitations and youth (I thought they were old at the time) I admire my teachers for trying to be my ally while I tried to fit in. For example, Mr. Grim spent a morning with me trying to get me not to blow off his physics class. I was rude and rejected his advice, but have always appreciated that he bothered with me at all. On the other hand, I have never forgiven the baseball coaches for not figuring out I was standing too close to the plate to hit the ball with the fat part of my bat. I think about things I learned from and about my best friends (Ric Curry, Pete Wood, Geoff Brown, Eldon Smith, Dan Clark, Paul Turner, Jim Carraway, George Gabbard, John Glover) almost every day, and am still in touch with all but the dead ones, and am still learning from them.

There were a few times some combination of us could have gotten in real trouble or have been killed. Those incidents are bright in my memory, and mostly involve cars. The time I had to squeeze between a stopped car and a ditch at high speed on Rural Road and George said "Glad you didn't panic", and the time I was facing an oncoming car in the wrong lane and Ric said "You're screwed." It wasn't just me who would have been screwed, but we wriggled out of it.

What have you been doing since Since you Retired?

I can no longer find the stuff I wrote originally so I'm adding a few things while I can still remember. I worked for the US General Accounting Office for 25 years (now it's called the Government Accountability Office) and the Federal Aviation Administration for 7 and a half years before I retired in 1995. After retiring I did contract work for big organizations and some governments. I did things like trying to figure out how many administrative people and offices the Bureau of Indian Affairs needed, how much money the Smithsonian needed to bring its buildings up to standard, how the newly formed government of the Republic of Georgia could create a civil service system, and numerous attempts to help organizations take better advantage of diversity in their workforces. Jane and I also traveled a lot to places we were interested in.

How many careers have you had in your adult life? Did you have a favorite or most rewarding?

I loved working at GAO. It was like family to me and we did important work that had clear benefits. For example, some of my work contributed to deregulating the airlines so they could serve the public at greatly reduced prices (and, some would argue, service). The work at FAA was much more difficult and the benefits were harder to see, but I felt good about what I achieved there.

What career did you always want to try but never did?

I wanted to be a professional athlete. My sister married a Los Angeles Dodger and after I saw what that life entails up close, I have never regretted being too small, too slow, and too lazy to have made it.

What are you most nostalgic about from your Tempe High School years?

Compared to kids now, we were free to explore, and our parents weren't afraid to let us out of their sight. My parents let me ride my bike everywhere and I walked home from school starting in first grade. They rarely took me anywhere in a car unless they were going there too. Now parents wait at the school bus stop so their children won't be kidnapped (crime involving children is a fraction what it was in the 1950's) or they drop them off and pick them up--there is a line of hundreds of cars idling with A/C's running every day at the elementary school, burning gas and polluting the air. All kid sports are organized by grownups now, and kids have to start specializing when they are 10 or 11. No one can play multiple sports anymore, and there's no such thing as kids just getting together to play on a dirt field the way we did. Kids can't ride their bikes to the pool for swim practice and stop at the public library on the way home and read all afternoon--there's too much traffic and the media has us afraid of miniscule dangers. I'm nostalgic for that time when I could walk up the street after school and find Jackie Pritchard and Tommy Turner, Bobby Rollins and Gene Carter, and play football or marbles in the dust or workup in the field beside Jackie's house, or shoot BB's at the garage door at Gene's. We tied a sock to the street sign on the corner of Spence and Rural and played tether ball with it while we waited for the bus in the mornings. We climbed the tamarack treees and the cottonwoods and no one told us to be careful, and we laid out at night in the grass and watched the stars. My grandchildren play Wii and are never unwatched. They'll be fine, but my feral childhood was better.

Favorite Music, Then and Now?

I liked my dad's music and I liked rock and roll. I still like both. I liked folk music after the Kingston Trio came along and I still sing and play those same songs.I learned to play guitar by listening to Joan Baez records and she has become better as we've grown older. Bob Dylan then and now. I loved the Beatles after I saw their first movie--couldn't get enough of them. Harry Nillson blew me away. I love Steely Dan and could never figure out how they became pop stars. I stopped listening in the 80's.

Favorite Movie(s), Then and Now?

The Music Man made me feel good. Still does.
Psycho scared me silly.
The Commitments is a movie for the ages.
Bull Durham tells you most of what you need to know in life.

Favorite T.V. Program(s), Then and Now?

Maverick was a Sunday night event at our house. My dad would drive to the donut shop on 9th Street in Phoenix and get a couple dozen donuts and we would lie on the tile floor in front of the black and white TV and eat donuts while we watched.
Now I watch Antiques Roadshow. I don't know why.

What teachers stand out most from those Tempe High School days? Why?

I liked something about all my teachers. David Price and Chet Kennedy knew how to get the best out of me. So did Bob Sluzarek, the JayVee coach. Leta Bowyer and Miss Craig were nice to me and treated me with respect. Bruce Harper spoke to me as though I were a peer, not a kid--that was unforgettable. Mrs. Bernard and I talked about writing off and on for another 30 years after I graduated--she made me feel like it was worth trying to do well. Every time I had occasion to speak with one of my teachers after I had kids of my own I was impressed by their good will and interest in the welfare of their students. Teachers really are remarkable people.

What would you like to share about what you've learned from life the past years since Tempe High School?

Jeez--it goes by quickly.

Are there any embarrassing moments that you are interested in sharing? Strictly optional.

I was embarrassed by almost everything. After Brenda Bachelor asked me if I had a thing for Barbara Grim the Monday after the first dance when we were Freshmen because I had danced with her a few times, I never went back to another dance until our senior year even though I loved to dance and was good at it. I didn't want anybody talking about me. As far as I knew I lived in the wrong place, wore the wrong clothes, rode in the wrong cars, had the wrong sisters, said the wrong things. I don't think that's a very good time of life for any of us.

Who is that "one person" you would like to see and talk with from your days at Tempe High? Why?

There are many people in our class that were an important part of my life who haven't responded to this. Gilbert Aragon and I were friends from the first grade on--Herschel Powell too. LeRoy Gamboa's courage always amazed me. Gilbert Valdez influenced me in ways he has no inkling of. Julio Calderon and Melciades Solis were reliable friends. Scotty Crawford taught me a lot. I'm sorry I've lost touch with them and many others.

Profile Questions: Show Herb's Profile Questions and Answers

Herb's Latest Interactions