Brian La Follette

I got to know Gary in auto shop 1st I think - Mr. Nolt I think. Gary was a big Mustang fan, and I a Chevy guy. Rumor is we might have even raced out at Roselawn one time! Secretly, I thought his Mustang was pretty darn cool. Didn't see him again after HS. Sorry to see he left us so soon - I hope he had a good life, and that he rests with the Lord now.

I went to Chatom grade school for a couple of years with John. I remember clearly that John was a quiet guy with a great sense of humor, but on certain things he had a very strong opinion. In 7th or 8th grade our english teacher Mrs. Bryan, spent most of the afternoon wearing a kimono and speaking in broken pidgeon english (very un-PC in todays world), as she tried to teach us about Haiku writing. We all had to compose and then read our own haiku. At John's turn, he was silent, and teach could not get him to speak. She got so angry sho broke character. Finally John said "I'm not gonna read no damn haiku!!". We all thought lightning was going to strike or something! John explained calmly how his grandfather had fought the Japanese in WWII and he did not want to participate. Whether you agreed with his stance or not, it took courage to stick by his convictions. Don't misunderstand - I agree John was a gentle giant and he was alway friendly to me - a nerdly chubby kid- and I don't think his stand was based on a racist sentiment-he didn't want to hurt anybody-but he knew what happened to his grandfather did not allow his emotional participation in this assignment and he'd rather be punished, so he headed off to see the principle! Rest in peace John.

Brian LaFollette