Tom Zale
This is really part 1 of two parts, the second part having already been posted.
Jimmy and I lived in the old Broadway-55th neighborhood, he on Portage Ave and me on Magnet Ave. I lived on an alley so when Jimmy would go to Myron T. Herrick junior high, he would pass right by my bedroom window. We both went to the Broadway YMCA. I learned to swim there but Jimmy was rising gymnast star. He could do the parallel bars and those damned rings where you rotate back and forth until you hurt yourself. He looked like Mr. Atlas in his high school years at South High.
After I graduated from Benedictine HS I attended the Cleveland Institute of Music where, lo and behold, Jimmy was a sophomore, after having spent three years in the Army Band in Fort Chafee, AR. We had some great times together at the Institute to include world class ping pong matches (he was much better than I, and he loved to beat me), in the unfinished basement of the Institute. We were quite social and probably should have spent more time practicing and studying. My one regret was I was unable to accompany Jimmy for his senior recital. At that point I was working six nights a week and was having trouble keeping up with my own studies. Thank you, Ann Castelano, for accompanying Jim for his senior recital!
I would be remiss if I did not mention Jimmy's mom, Ellsie. We would occasionally study together at Jim's home and she would make us tea. She was a sweetheart and Jimmy's biggest fan. His dad, Ivan, didn't say much but he was very supportive of Jimmy.
Sometime before Jimmy graduated, I had one date with Virginia a/k/a
Ginny. Everything went well but we were not meant to be a couple. She was a voice major at that time and a very pretty girl. I had mentioned to Jim that we had a nice date, but I was not her type. Lo and behold again, they started dating and the next thing you know, they got married. And then they moved to Florida.
I loved them both and hoped they would have a long and happy life together.
On to Part 2.