Just Who The Dickens Is Kim Dickens? by Tommy Towery Class of '64 Would it seem important if I told you that Kim Dickens is an actress? Well, what if I said she was an actress from Huntsville. Sounds better. What if I said that that she sat in the same classrooms and graduated in 1983 from the same school that we did, dear old Lee High School? That's neat you say, but why is that important to the Lee High School Classes of '64-'65-'66, since she didn't graduate until 1983? Would you have more bragging rights if I told you that most of us sat in those same classrooms and many graduated with her father, Justin Dickens, Class of '64 or her mother Pam Clark ( now Pam Clark Howell), Class of '66? Well, Chief, would you believe...? I got an e-mail from Sherry Adcox White, Class of '64, alerting me to an article that was in the Huntsville Times that told of Kim. It is too long to include completely here, but I've extracted some of the highlights, and have included a link to the whole article at the bottom of this column. Lee High Graduate Has Life In Order By CHRIS WELCH Times Entertainment Writer chrisw@htimes.com (Published in the Huntsville Times on 06/08/03) The members of Lee High School's Class of 1983 celebrating their 20th reunion this summer are going to be bummed - especially the guys. One of their most famous classmates, Kim Dickens, who has starred in films with Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, and is currently seen in Showtime's "Out of Order" series with Eric Stolz, is also disappointed because she won't be able to make it. "Yes, it's my 20th reunion, oh my goodness," Dickens said by phone from her home in Los Angeles. Her dad, Justin Dickens (Class of '64), lives here and her mom, Pam (Clark) Howell , (Class of '66), in Decatur. "It's sometime in June and I don't think I'm going to be able to make it at this point. "It's sad because it would be fun to see everybody, but I'm going to be in New York then. I still keep in touch with some of my closer friends from high school." Funny thing about this cute, petite actress who has been in high-profile films like "Hollow Man," "The Gift," "Mercury Rising" and the short-lived but acclaimed Fox series "Big Apple" - she never did any theater in Huntsville. She played softball, basketball and some tennis at Lee and was a member of the National Honor Society. Just by chance, she saw a friend of hers in Lee's production of "Guys and Dolls" and decided, why not take an acting class? "My dad is a singer and songwriter, so I was surrounded by music and performing," Dickens said. "So, it was probably percolating in my blood the whole time. During my senior year at Lee it dawned on me to take an acting class. I think Ms. (Vivienne) Atkins was my teacher and it was fun." Her newest project, "Out of Order," which has gotten good reviews, focuses more on the acting than the special effects, and that's what interested Dickens. The original series is five episodes and takes a look at a family trying to stay together in Hollywood. The two-hour pilot airs again today at 9:50 p.m. and the first episode is Monday night at 9 on Showtime. She also can look sexy when she wants, and did some partial nudity in "Hollow Man" and "Palookaville." Were did Mom and Dad OK with that? "They are now," Dickens said, laughing. "Now Mom asks me after each movie, 'Did you die in it? And, are you naked in it?' I got that under my belt and she knows what to expect. My dad was cool with it, it's part of storytelling. Dickens says her next part is a small role in the movie "House of Sand and Fog," a suspenseful drama, and she will continue auditioning for roles. She has homes in both L.A. and New York City, which she is particularly fond of, but she comes back to Huntsville every Christmas. "You never lose that home base," Dickens said. "It's part of your daily life." _________________________________________ |
Est. March 31, 2000 40,982 Previous Hits June 16, 2003 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
I Wonder... 1. Is it good if a vacuum really sucks? 2. Why is the third hand on the watch called the "Second Hand?" 3. If a word is misspelled in the dictionary, how would we ever know? 4. If Webster wrote the first dictionary, where did he find the words? 5. Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack? Or more precisely, What IS whack? 6. Why does "slow down" and "slow up" mean the same thing? 7. Why does "fat chance" and "slim chance" mean the same thing? 8. Why do "tug" boats push their barges? 9. Why do we sing "Take me out to the ball game" when we are already there? 10. Why are they called "stands" when they are made for sitting? 11. Why is it called "after dark" when it really is "after light"? 12. Doesn't "expecting the unexpected" make the unexpected expected? 13. Why are a "wise man" and a "wise guy" opposites? 14. Why do "overlook" and "oversee" mean opposite things? 15. Why is "phonics" not spelled the way it sounds? 16. If work is so terrific, why do they have to pay you to do it? 17. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting? 18. If love is blind, why is lingerie so popular? 19. If you are cross-eyed and have dyslexia, can you read all right? 20. Why is bra singular and panties plural? 21. Why do you press harder on the buttons of a remote control when you know the batteries are dead? 22. Why do we put suits in garment bags and garments in a suitcase? 23. How come abbreviated is such a long word? 24. Why do we wash bath towels? Aren't we clean when we use them? 25. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle? 26. Why do they call it a TV set when you only have one? 27. Christmas is weird. What other time of the year do you sit in front of a dead tree and eat candy out of your socks? ____________________________ |
I Was A Ticket Seller by Lynn Bozeman VanPelt Class of '66 The summer that the Class of '66 graduated I sold tickets for the Lyric Theatre (the one with the balcony). Ronald Martz (Ken's older brother) was the manager and I think he favored Lee students as employees, Kenneth Finley (also Class of '66) was the usher. I have to admit that we did sometimes let other Lee students in for free, or two for one. It was a great job, all the popcorn and Coke you wanted. The hours were 4pm until 20 min. past start of the last movie, seven days a week. One of the major perks was that we could see any movie for free (at the Martin too) as long as we worked there. I spent my afternoons watching the movies and evenings selling tickets. It was fun because we could see who was dating who (what else was there to do then other than go to the movie?). The usher at the Martin (which was just across the street I'm sure you all recall) was a boy who graduated from Butler named something Pruitt....he drove a blue convertible corvette and we dated for awhile that summer. His car was more interesting than he was. Anybody remember seeing me in the ticket booth? _____________________________________________________ |
Let's get one thing straight - it wasn't because of Elvis! I moved to Memphis, Tennessee, the day after graduation from Lee, and have not lived in Huntsville again since that day. I miss it. I dare say that not a day goes by that I don't think about it. Marriages are the main reason for the chain of events that led me to move here and to still be in Memphis. The first marriage occurred during my junior year at Lee, when my mother married an electrician that was in Huntsville working on Von Braun's office building. He was from Memphis, and after they were married my mom moved to Memphis with him when the job was over. I elected to stay and live with my grandmother in Huntsville so that I could finish my schooling at Lee. I really wanted to go to the University of Alabama after graduating from Lee and many times still wish I had gone there, although my life would be so different now if I had. My father's disabled veteran status would have allowed me to go to any Alabama state school and have the tuition and books paid for. That meant that I would only have had to pay for my room and board and spending money to go to college. On a visit to Memphis, I visited Memphis State University and found that I could live at home with my mother and step-father and pay instate rates for my tuition and books. At that time the tuition for a semester at Memphis State was $82.50. Money was the reason that I moved to Memphis, because I did not know how I could afford to go to Alabama and earn enough to pay room and board and have spending money. Throughout high school I had not had to work like so many of you had to do. Somehow we made it without me working, and I had no skills nor any hope of finding a job that would pay me enough to live and eat. So I moved to Memphis, and moved in with my family. One of my college friends got married and I was asked to be a groomsman in the wedding and was paired up with the bride's younger sister. A little later I started dating her and we got married when I graduated from Memphis State and went into the US Air Force in 1968. For 20 years we moved around the country to places like Texas, California, Nebraska, even living in England for four years, before I retired. My wife had always said that she would travel with me when the Air Force moved us, but when the time came to settle down, she wanted us to move back to Memphis. I still had family there, and so did she, and so we did. I got a job at Memphis State and we bought a house. Six years later we were divorced, but by that time our daughter was a senior in high school and was planning to attend the University of Memphis (the new name for Memphis State University). Since my daughter had elected to live with me instead of her mom, I thought I needed to stay in Memphis after the divorce. Also my mother's health was failing and she needed me to help her do things. Some plans that looked promising fell through and the window of opportunity I had to move back to Huntsville closed on me. All these things considered I was still trapped in Memphis, it seemed. I would have to wait until Tiffany and my mom no longer depended upon my being around. I later next met Sue, who also lived in Memphis, and who had a job that she needed to stay in until she retired to get maximum benefits. We got married and bought a new house, and have plans to stay here until retirement, and then perhaps we will move to a place that we both like better. I tell myself that I only have six and a half more years until I retire, and maybe then the stars will be in the right place for me to move back to The Rocket City. The ten things I miss the most about Huntsville are: 1. Seeing my friends - either at social events, sporting events, or just running into them on the street or at the mall. 2. Huntsville food - Mullins hamburgers, Zestos, and when I was in the Air Force and stationed away from the South, Krystal Hamburgers and Gibson Bar-B-Q. 3. Monte Sano Mountain visits - just driving up the mountain in the summertime and letting my ears pop and actually feeling the difference in temperatures between being up there and being down in the city. Also, looking down from the lookouts and seeing the lights or the streets and buildings in the distance. 4. Big Spring Park - The serenity of walking along the cold (not cool but downright cold) water and watching things float past or the moss wave in the currents or the fish swim. Remembering the way the Weeping Willows would sway with the currents as well. Sitting at the bottom of the hill by the spring and watching the place where it all begins. 5. Upside-down Hill - I miss Upside-down Hill because it is neat to experience, and it is even neater to be one of the few people that even knows it exists. This is one of the places I take any visitors to see whenever I play tour guide to my friends visiting Huntsville with me. Knowledge like that, and of the big cave up behind Maple Hill cemetery make me want to move back there and have a bumper sticker made up that says: "Native Huntsvillian!". 6.Cruisi ng the Parkway - I miss the memories and flashbacks I have whenever I drive from where Jerry's was on the south and Shoney's Big Boy was to the north. I also miss the memories of the rest of North Parkway between Oakwood and where the VFW club is and all the fun I had burning gas on that strip of pavement. 7. Lee High School sports - I have the University of Memphis sports here and I greatly enjoy having season tickets for football and basketball. I also know that very few Lee alumni ever bother to go to Lee sports today and I think "What a waste". I miss the fun we had there, and think how great it would be even today to get a crowd together and go to the football and basketball and baseball games and sit there and half watch and half talk and eat hot dogs and popcorn and root for the team. Let's all get together and go to the Homecoming Game during Football season this year! 8. Redstone Arsenal and the Space Center - I miss the excitement we had growing up in the Sixties with the space race going on all around us. I miss the sound and the feel of mighty Saturn rockets being tested right at our doorsteps. I still get a burst of pride run up my back as I walk in the Space Center today and see the photos of people and events that we knew or were a part of. I brag constantly about going to school with the German Rocket Scientist's kids. 9. Downtown Huntsville - I miss the city as we knew it and the five and dime stores that I would snake in and out from one end of Washington Street to the other. They were old and dim even then (with their White and Colored water fountains) and ceiling fans that never kept the places cool. I miss walking from my house on East Clinton downtown and seeing maybe four or five movies on a Saturday at the Lyric and Grand Theatres (by taking in two double-features, and the Cartoon Carnival and special movie for an empty Golden-Flake potato chip bag.) 10. Roller Skating - I miss the dances we went to every weekend also, but for my number ten on my list, I would have to list Carter's Skateland and the fun we have all had there and the memories associated with the time I spent there. It's gone now, but I still miss it. I know that some of the things I miss about Huntsville would only be memories today even if I lived there. But there is enough of the city left in me that even today when someone asks me where I'm from, I'll say "I live in Memphis, but I call Huntsville, Alabama" my home. ________________________________ |
We Are Fami-LEE! |
Est. March 31, 2000 40,982 Previous Hits June 16, 2003 Editor:Tommy Towery http://www.leealumni.com Class of 1964 Page Hits This Issue e-mail ttowery@memphis.edu Barbara Wilkerson Donnelly , Joy Rubins Morris, Cherri Polly Massey, Paula Spencer Kephart, Rainer Klauss, Bobby Cochran, Collins (CE) Wynn Staff Photographers: Fred & Lynn Sanders Contributers: The Members of Lee High School Classes of 64-65-66 |
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This week's feature story is on our extended Fami-Lee and I am sure you will find it interesting. Any of you with similair stories are encouraged to send them in so that we can all share them. Due to unforseen circumstances, my visit with Bobby Cochran this week had to be cancelled, but we plan to get together later in the summer in St. Louis. I should be in Lexington, KY as you read this, visiting my step-daughter and her husband. I hope to still have e-mail capabilities but even if I don't, I'll catch up on the mail when I return on Wednesday. We're running out of "How I Ended Up" stories and stories about the jobs you had while a student at Lee, so if you are considering sending one in, please do so. Do not worry about the writing, editing them in my job, and I will be happy to assist you. There are no plans yet for a summer mini-reunion, but that could change with one e-mail. However, I hope we can all get together to attend the Lee Homecoming football game this fall. I'll post the date when I get it. Be careful this summer. T. Tommy _____________________________________ |
How I Ended Up In Memphis, TN (Thank ya' vur-ah much!) by Tommy Towery Class of '64 |
Last Week's Trivia Photo This is a group photo taken at the 1990 LHS Reunion. After they took our 1965 Class Photo several of us started talking about how long we had gone to school together. The individuals in this photo were all in Mrs. Sheppard's 4th & 5th grade class together. That's right. Mrs. Sheppard taught both grades in the same classroom. Obviously it was a rural Alabama elementary school but I don't think it hindered our education one bit. Truth be known it was probably a better education system than some of what we see pass for education today in our politically correct world. I know I was a shepard (sheep herder) in the class Christmas Play. Try to find one of those today in a public schools. Who are these distinguished Pulaski Pike elementary alumni are ? ______________________________________________ |
The results of last week's Coke bottle poll shows that four out of 31 who responded, or 13% of the female Classmates, have at one time in their lives peed in a Coke bottle. I tip my hat to Barbara, who requested this poll and to Chip who supported the idea for some perverted and strange reason. Only in The Traveller would you get such in-depth knowledge straight from the source. ________________________________________ |
Just Who The Dickens Is Kim Dickens? by Tommy Towery Class of '64 Would it seem important if I told you that Kim Dickens is an actress? Well, what if I said she was an actress from Huntsville. Sounds better. What if I said that that she sat in the same classrooms and graduated in 1983 from the same school that we did, dear old Lee High School? That's neat you say, but why is that important to the Lee High School Classes of '64-'65-'66, since she didn't graduate until 1983? Would you have more bragging rights if I told you that most of us sat in those same classrooms and many graduated with her father, Justin Dickens, Class of '64 or her mother Pam Clark ( now Pam Clark Howell), Class of '66? Well, Chief, would you believe...? I got an e-mail from Sherry Adcox White, Class of '64, alerting me to an article that was in the Huntsville Times that told of Kim. It is too long to include completely here, but I've extracted some of the highlights, and have included a link to the whole article at the bottom of this column. Lee High Graduate Has Life In Order By CHRIS WELCH Times Entertainment Writer chrisw@htimes.com (Published in the Huntsville Times on 06/08/03) The members of Lee High School's Class of 1983 celebrating their 20th reunion this summer are going to be bummed - especially the guys. One of their most famous classmates, Kim Dickens, who has starred in films with Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin, Bruce Willis, Keanu Reeves, and is currently seen in Showtime's "Out of Order" series with Eric Stolz, is also disappointed because she won't be able to make it. "Yes, it's my 20th reunion, oh my goodness," Dickens said by phone from her home in Los Angeles. Her dad, Justin Dickens (Class of '64), lives here and her mom, Pam (Clark) Howell , (Class of '66), in Decatur. "It's sometime in June and I don't think I'm going to be able to make it at this point. "It's sad because it would be fun to see everybody, but I'm going to be in New York then. I still keep in touch with some of my closer friends from high school." Funny thing about this cute, petite actress who has been in high-profile films like "Hollow Man," "The Gift," "Mercury Rising" and the short-lived but acclaimed Fox series "Big Apple" - she never did any theater in Huntsville. She played softball, basketball and some tennis at Lee and was a member of the National Honor Society. Just by chance, she saw a friend of hers in Lee's production of "Guys and Dolls" and decided, why not take an acting class? "My dad is a singer and songwriter, so I was surrounded by music and performing," Dickens said. "So, it was probably percolating in my blood the whole time. During my senior year at Lee it dawned on me to take an acting class. I think Ms. (Vivienne) Atkins was my teacher and it was fun." Her newest project, "Out of Order," which has gotten good reviews, focuses more on the acting than the special effects, and that's what interested Dickens. The original series is five episodes and takes a look at a family trying to stay together in Hollywood. The two-hour pilot airs again today at 9:50 p.m. and the first episode is Monday night at 9 on Showtime. She also can look sexy when she wants, and did some partial nudity in "Hollow Man" and "Palookaville." Were did Mom and Dad OK with that? "They are now," Dickens said, laughing. "Now Mom asks me after each movie, 'Did you die in it? And, are you naked in it?' I got that under my belt and she knows what to expect. My dad was cool with it, it's part of storytelling. Dickens says her next part is a small role in the movie "House of Sand and Fog," a suspenseful drama, and she will continue auditioning for roles. She has homes in both L.A. and New York City, which she is particularly fond of, but she comes back to Huntsville every Christmas. "You never lose that home base," Dickens said. "It's part of your daily life." _________________________________________ |
Justin Dickens' and Pam Clark Howell's photos from the 1964 Silver Sabre and Justin at the 2000 Reunion. ____________________________________ |
From The Bench by Eddie Sykes Class of '66 Orlando Fl eosykes@fedex.com The web page is great and it has brought back many memories of life at Lee. I was one of those underclassmen...the babies of the Class of '66. Five long years of high school before we made it to the top of the class. However, It was great watching the game from the bench year after year. Then the Class of '64' graduated and some of us finally got the chance to play a little football. I have many vivid memories collected while I patiently waited and watched from the bench. Most of the football team starters from the Class of '64 were like heroes to me and I never did fill like we ever "measured up" to them. I think my best memories came from the fall of 1961. I was in the 8th grade and Lee High School only went up to the 10th grade. However, we (Lee) played football against full pledge High Schools. We played mostly country schools like Town Creek that were small and were rated single A schools. But, this was a dream come true for a 8th grader and to top it off that year Lee finished the season undefeated. The memories of riding in cars (at 13) with real high school kids (10th graders) to Mullins Drive In to celebrate our victories -- still makes "my top 10" list of best memories in life. However, I was prompted to write in response to a question asked by Barbara Seely Cooper '64. She wrote "I believe what Dawn Bettenhausen and I worked on was a large paper replica of the Lee insignia for the football team to tear through at a game. Does anyone else recall that? My memory says that it took some doing to "punch" through the paper, so those of us who worked on it were mortified". I remember. I think it was homecoming (although we didn't have any graduates to come home yet) in the fall 1963. The banner was a replica of General Lee about 8 'x 8' and we waited behind it until given the cue. The banner was constructed so well that our first attempt to push through failed and we had to back up and get a running start. Whoever burst through it 1st tripped and fell on their face. The best I can remember we did a lot of tripping that night. It seems like I remember seeing a picture of that in the yearbook or somewhere ? I hope to write again soon and share more memories about some of my heroes from the "Lee Class of 1964". ______________________________________________ |
From Our Mailbox Subject: Sammy the Biker Andrea Gray Roberson Class of '66 I went to Jackson Way Baptist Church, June 1st, to see and hear Sammy. He did a GREAT job and it was good to see and talk with him. We were classmates from the lst grade at Lincoln to the 12th grade at Lee. Several times between the first and the 12th grades we were girlfriend/boyfriend but now we do not get to see each other as much, but we always know that we are still good friends. He is a great person and a great minister. This is a crazy world and we need lots of people like Sammy to try to make it better. ________________________________________ Subject: Ken Martz Pat Torzillo Stolz Class of '66 Tommy, I emailed Ron Brand last week and let him know, but please let Linda Beal Walker know that Ken Martz still lives in the same house on Oakwood that he has for years. He is listed in the Huntsville phone book. __________________________________________________ Subject: Alabama Bound Ron Blaise Class of '65 Janice Blaise Class of '66 Well, who would have thought after all these years that Janice and I would be moving back to Alabama! Automotive is not doing well in Tennessee so I landed a new job in Clanton, Alabama with a German owned company. We will be looking for a home in the Alabaster area near Birmingham, so I am wondering how many of our classmates live near there? We would love to hear from those that do. __________________________________________ Sharon D. Hawthorne msniscey66@yahoo.com Year of Graduation: 1978 Your web site is just what we need to see so that we can learn more about the old and new Huntsville, Alabama.I have lived here for over 35 years I would not trade my living here in Huntsville for any other place in the world. Its a great place to have children and just live a nice clean life, and attend the church of your choice. 1978 Class members please write me if you just would like to talk. From: Chattanooga, TN __________________________________________ Subject: Condolences Carol Jean Williams Carroll jdcaroljosh@comcast.net Hey TT, I'm so sorry to hear about your Mom. I know you and Sue have had your "plates full" for quite some time now, but it is so hard to loose a parent. Please know that you two are in my heart and prayers. I hope that Don's health is better. I can't believe that we have lost so many of our Fami-Lee lately. I had seen most of them in the paper, but didn't realize that their death's were in such a close time span until I finally got a chance to check the web site. My sincere condolenses to everyone. When I saw that Mr. Hamilton had died, I remembered our last reunion also. He called me by name along with several of our other friends. It's amazing that after all this time he still remembered us (or is it)? There were certainly a number of us who knew the inside of his office well. I believe that Ken Martz has moved back into his boyhood home on Oakwood Avenue. I think someone told me this, or my memory is sort of like Mary Ann's. I knew his brother Leroy, when I was younger and the neighborhood was inhabitited by Kerry Scheer (Carl's brother), Don McCord, Mutt & Jerry Fretwell, Jackie Kephart (Dwight's brother). Ken helped me make it through Ms. Faulkner's English class. There are so many rememberences that trigger long forgotten memories from the past and some are so eloquent and poignantly written, that I hesitate to counter with my own, but please know that they put a smile on my face or a tear on my cheek. There is hardly a person that has written in, that I don't fondly remember in some way. Sorry to end on a sour note, but I am having another (medical procedure) next Tuesday, Jun. 17 and gallbladder surgery on Friday, Jun. 20th. Hopefully that will fix me up for a while!! I welcome my fellow classmates' prayers. _________________________________________________ |
Additional Pre-Lee Mysteries How about names, grades, and schools this week? __________________________________________ |
Pam Clark '66 |
