Tom (Dorrel Thomas) Hanks (Jr.)

Ruth Cunningham's English class, with Jerry England, Don Buts, and Sid Bowers providing clever answers to Ms. Cunningham's questions.

Ruth Cunningham: she first taught me how good Middle English sounds, and that led directly to my current position--teaching Middle English literature at Baylor University.

Probably almost anytime I tried dating someone.

Buddy Holly, "Peggy Sue."

I had a '49 Chevy, and enjoyed going to Fisher's Drive-in (with almost all of Springfield's youth).

Rounder; more near-sighted; less sure of knowing all the answers (in fact, I doubt I even know all the questions); married to a woman who stimulates my growth every day.

Air Force Officer, then college teacher, and--concurrent with that--college minister at our church in Waco, TX.

Ride my motorcycle; attend movies; read fiction; go to new places with Carole (Oxford, UK, this past summer).

I want to write another book, write a couple of good articles about the Morte Darthur of Sir Thomas Malory, figure out what it means to be a minister (I'm still tentative in that area), and work harder at staying close to my friends.

Parkview did a good job of preparing me for college. From there to the Air Force was an easy jump (ROTC), and teaching at the USAF Academy was a kick--with a 6-week tour of duty in war-torn Vietnam to add a sober note.

I've been teaching at Baylor for 33 years, and I enjoy it more each year.

The best memory I retain from outside class at Parkview is the long series of evenings when I joined Bud Iseman, Jack Smith (now deceased, I fear), Doug Thompson (deceased), Jack Sifford, Sid Bowers, Bryan Bolin, Tommy Crabb, Dorsey Dysart, and doubtless one-two others who presently evade my memory, to sit around one of the group's family rooms and talk about what seemed like major topics: what to do in case of Russian invasion, whether nature or nurture determined who we were and how we acted, how good ethics might best be determined, etc.