Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Here's a photo taken at Judy Adair 's house on Virginia Boulevard in June of 1962.

I'm sure everyone recognizes the mad male dancer as Mike Smith, already a party guy at 14 and high steppin' his way through high school. Does anyone recognize anyone else?

The following answers were sent in by Classmates:

Carolyn Burgess Featheringill, Class of '65 - Looks like we're going to have to work together to fill in the blanks for the picture of the dancers. I'm certain that the girl in the foreground is Cherry Nance '65 and the girl in the background is Judy Adair '65. Remembering a story in the Traveller some time back, I'm guessing that the party took place at Judy's home in the summer of '61 or '62.

Walt Thomas, Class of '64

Judy Adair's house

1960?

Mike Smith

Escoe German, Class of '65 - This is a "wild guess" ... the dancing guy is Mike Smith...He looks to be in about the 7th or 8th grade..that would make it 1960 or 1961? The only person that I remember living on Virginia Blvd. was Judy Adair..the blonde hair in the corner could have been her's.

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Sonny Turner - This week TV photo is of Sky King show. The one to the right shows Sky King (Kirby Grant) with his niece Penny and nephew Clipper.

Mary (Ardrey) Aukerman, Class of ’66 - "From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King"! This week's Mystery Photo is Sky King, Penny King and Clipper King. All that's missing is the plane. This was a favorite at our house. Haven't thought of it in years! Thanks for the memories!

Walt Thomas, Class of '64 - Sky King, Penny, Clipper

Annette McCraney, Class of ’64 - That's gotta be Sky King and Penny. Can't remember the guy's name though.

Bob Alverson, Class of '65 - The program was "Sky King" staring Kirby Grant as Sky King, Gloria Winters as Penny King and Ron Hagerthy as Clipper King. This was one of my favorite programs as a kid.

Woody Beck, Class of ’65 - Believe that's "Sky King". He often flew a Cessna 310.

Darryl Glassco, Class of ’65 - It was one of my favorite TV shows. SKY KING. The people in the photo are Schuyler J. (Sky) King, his niece Penny and her friend Clipper. Sky owned the Flying Crown ranch and his plane was a Cesna 310 named Songbird. I remembered that Sky’s real name was Kirby Grant but I had to look up the names for Penny (Gloria Winters) and Clipper (Ron Hagerthy) on the internet. I also discovered that Grant was killed in an accident on his way to a Space Shuttle lunch in 1985. He was to have received an award from NASA for his achievements in encouraging aviation and space flight. I just read something else on Sky King and saw that Clipper was Clipper King. I only recalled his first name and my aging brain remembers him as a friend but he must have been a relative.

Linda Beale Walker, Class of '66 - This looks Sky King and Penny, his niece, and the young man looks like Michael Landon, but I'm nearsighted and the picture is not too plain.

Sandra Parks Bozeman, Class of ’67 - I remember watching "Sky King" fly his plane "Songbird" from the Flying Crown Ranch. Don't recall actor's name but on the show his daughter or niece was Penny. Your dedication and hard work every week on this site is very appreciated by all the Fami-LEE.

Jeff Fussell Class of '66 - I may be off base on this one, but it sure looks like Sky King, Penny, and "Clipper". It was one of my Saturday morning favorites. I remember he had two different "Songbirds" -- the first one was a clunky old radial engine job which later was replaced by a sleek Cessna 310. Probably not the most practical "ranch plane", but Sky would have lost a lot of cool factor toodling around in a Piper J3.

Lynn Bozeman VanPelt, Class of ’66 - Isn't that Sky King and his niece Penny? Don't remember the young man.

That turtle business must be a guy thing....never heard it.

Eddie Burton, Class of ’66 - "From out of the clear blue of the western sky comes, Sky King!"

That's Sky, Penny and Clipper King. Sky was played by Kirby Grant. All three of the actors were very popular on episodic television in the 50's. The show was kind of a western but with a Cessna. They would fly around and track bad guys in the west. It was kind of an answer to the Roy Rogers Show. Roy had Triger and Nellie Bell and Sky had "Songbird" his plane. Good early black and white TV. Every show had a good moral lesson. Penny was Sky's niece. The actress who played her also played Babs on the Life of Reily when Jackie Gleason played Reily, before William Bendix.

Glenn James, Class of '65 - The mystery TV show is Sky King. The people in it were Schuyler J. "Sky" King, his niece; Penny King, and I think his nephew; Clipper King. And also his plane's name was the Songbird. This was one of my all time favorite shows. I thought I remembered all of this so I looked it up on the "Net", and believe it or not I was correct!

Skip Cook, Class of ’64 - Looks like Sky King, his niece Penny, and some other dude. I believe that Mr. King’s plane was named the Song Bird……should have been King Air.

Karen Tucker Oliver, Class of ‘65 - This week’s mystery photo was one of my favorite shows "Sky King". The characters were Skylar King and his neice Penny. My memory fails me as to who the guy is on the right. We were actually talking about this show a couple of weeks ago and asking our children if they had ever heard of it. Of course, they had not. Thanks Tommy for the memory jog!

Jerry Dorriety, Class of '70 - Who could forget Sky King and his niece Penny. Actually it was the niece Penny who caught my eye. Had a real crush on her!

Kevin Rice, Class of ’71 - I'm guessing here but the 2 kids and the old station wagon remind me of SKYYYYYYYYYYY KING. Wasn't my favorite but was on Sat. morning.

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Subject:Comments on the Latest Lee's Traveller

Barbara Seely Ridgeway Cooper

Class of '64

I was intrigued by the last issue's photograph of the group of people dancing, but I was so uncertain of names that I did not respond. OK, now you have provoked me, and it turned out to be fun....I got out my 1964 Lee High School album and began to look for photos that would fit the faces I thought I recognized. In the process, many memories came to the surface, and Lee High School in our Senior Year came back more vividly than it has in many, many years.

Is the male dancer Mike Smith? That is who I thought of immediately when I saw the picture in the last issue. Is the girl in the far background Carolyn Burgess? If not, next guess: Carolyn McCutcheon. Is the girl with the glossy black hair Linda Taylor? Whoever they turn out to be, it does my heart good to see our era at play, so young and so carefree. I was not at that party.

As I wandered through our annual to find resemblances to the photos, I recalled a lot of other good things.

The crew cuts on the guys still look very handsome - I am partial to John Ridgeway (of course) and Don Cornelius, who will always be my Most Gorgeous Male Face, but others look really good too.

As for the hairdos on the girls, I hope all of their styles were more simple to achieve than mine!! The photos show us with our hair curled and sprayed, fluffed and teased, and flipped up on one or both ends. I remember burning off my hair several times trying to get a perm that would let me curl mine. To this day, if there is a nice hairstyle going around, my hair will NOT DO IT. Nevertheless, looking through our 1964 Album, you can see AND appreciate the work involved in being so gorgeous.

I spied penny loafers on many classmates, and that made me remember my own beloved pair, which I wore with everything to school. Every now and then, Penny Loafers come back onto the fashion front....but mostly as nostagia. Sad!!!

There were lots of button-down oxfords, too. Skinny ties, white socks, and what was (for then) scandalously short skirts for the girls. My recollection is: We were required to kneel down, and if our skirt did not touch the floor, we were sent home. It never happened to me (I went through a pre-screening at home before I went to school).

I did love to see us all in our Keds sneakers, which were - at least by me - diligently redone each night with white shoe polish.

I looked closely at the photos of the Annual staff and the Art Club. Being very gun-shy of recalling who did what back then, I still recall trying to perfect my usage of French curves and other tools to draw the staircase for the Table of Contents for the 1964 Yearbook. No doubt others were very involved. I also recall being involved with the cover design of the sword and the Silver Sabre lettering. Please let me know if anyone else recalls our work on these items.

This year (July) is the big 6-0 birthday for me. Truly, I can say I do not look forward to it, but the alternative is really much, much worse. T. Tommy, can we have a request via the newsletter to ask how everyone plans to celebrate their 60th? We ought to kick high for #60, but at the same time, it is very sobering. Maybe others are willing to contribute their feelings about such a big milestone, and how they want the next 10+ years to shape up.

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Sky King and his niece, Penny (and in the earlier shows, nephew named Clipper)always had an exciting time, saving the good and foiling the bad. Somehow the plane (or planes) were always involved in watching what was going on from above or getting somewhere just in the nick of time. The plane was called the "Song Bird." It was a Cessna 310 (and in the earlier episodes, a Cessna T-50 twin-engine "Bamboo Bomber."

Sky King's real name was Kirby Grant Hoon. He was born in Butte, Montana, November 24, 1911. He was interested in music and acting from an early age. His skill as a violinist and a soloist won him a scholarship to the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago. Upon com pleting his formal education, Grant was involved in multimedia performances on radio, stage and movies.

"Sky King" was based on a radio story by Roy Winsor, it's main characters were Schuyler King (Sky) a former WWII naval aviator, Penny and Clipper (Sky's niece and nephew.) They lived on a ranch in Arizona. Sky King owned an aircraft called the "Song Bird." The episodes were always full of excitement and adventure. Earl Nightingale had been the "Sky King" of radio but like many radio actors, was just not suited for the role in television.

Grant's agent approached Kirby with the part and set up a screen test. Several weeks later he was notified that he had been selected for the part and went to the studio to meet his TV niece, Penny (Gloria Winters) and nephew Clipper (Ron Hagerthy.) They were to live on the Flying Crown Ranch near the town of Grover, Arizona (a fictitious name) and fly around in the Song Bird. Grant had earlier purchased a 1946 Cessna T-50 Bobcat, which became the first "Song Bird." The N-number was N67832, (which incidentally is still on a T-50 today.)

In 1956, the original "Song Bird" was sold to a rancher friend for a dollar as it had dry rot in it's main spar and his friend wanted a rebuild project. Grant replaced it with a new "Song Bird" purchased for $72,000. It was a 1956 Cessna 310B (s/n 35548). It's N-number was N5348A. (This N-number is on a Cessna 320 at present.) The last aircraft used was a 1960 Cessna 310D (s/n 39117). Song Bird III's N-number was N6817T. This plane was only used for promos and not in the actually show.

Through 1959, 72 episodes were filmed. The episodes were filled with excitement and danger and the fantastic flying sequences made the series a hit. It was definitely one of the must see programs for many on the Saturday morning lineup.

Grant did as much of the flying as he could get away with, but it seemed the location sets were always visited by insurance representatives. Kirby Grant was a licensed pilot and it was tough for him to let anyone else do the work. Many of the shots were shot around Apple Valley, California.

Grant relocated to Florida where he spent much of his time in fundraising efforts for such programs as cerebral palsy, heart fund and other programs as his way of saying "thanks" to the public who made him successful. In 1978, Kirby Grant suffered a massive heart attack. The operation required a triple bypass and a new valve, but soon he was back on schedule again.Following his heart attack the FAA suspended his pilot's license.

Grant was killed in a car accident on October 30, 1985 while on his way to watch a launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger at Cape Canaveral. He was to be honored by the shuttle astronauts for his achievements in encouraging aviation and space flight.

Although Kirby Grant is gone, the real Sky King lives on. As he touched the lives of those who watched his show so will the pilots and "want-to-be pilots" touch the lives of those around them. "Out of the clear blue of the western sky..." lives on in those who stretch to see the horizon, who escape the bounds of earth in search of the sky.

The Big Six-Oh!

This Week's Classmate

Bob Walker, Class of '64

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

I received Barbara's e-mail above requesting some coverage on how her Classmates celebrate their 60th birthdays at a great time. I knew a Classmate who was reaching that phase of his life this week.

My best friend in high school was Bob Walker, and for the last 15 years or so he and I call each other on our birthdays. I call him on his, he calls me on mine. Bob's is easy - "Beware the Ides of March!" So, to honor Barbara's request, this year I asked Bob how he was celebrating the special event.

Bob said that he started out the day at 5am by going on a surveillance stake-out to serve some legal papers on a woman. She finally came out of her house at 7am and he accomplished that goal. He was trying to serve some for a man about the same time, but the guy never showed. I guess you have a long birthday when you start out the day at 5am.

At the time I got him on the phone, he was on the highway headed home. I asked him about his car and he said he was still driving his 1994 red Oldsmobile 98. He laughed when he told me that he had 219,000 miles and would do it like he did all his cars - drive it till it died.

His big presents this year were clothes - shirts, pants and underwear.

His big plans for the evening was a 9-ball pool tournament at a bar in south Daytona. Now to me, that sounds like a fun evening. On a visit to see him a few years ago I went with Bob to Babe's, his favorite pool hall and bar and I thought it was great. Bob and I walked into the place at it was like Norm walking into Cheers. Everyone knew him and he knew them. I thought to myself how great it must be to have a social hangout like that. I don't have one anymore and miss the atmosphere of the Officers' Clubs of my past.

When I asked him about a cake, he said he would not have one, he was on a diet. He said his favorite dessert these days was the Caramel Apple Empanada at Taco Bell, and I promised him I'd go get one to help him celebrate.

So, happy Birthday Bob! Since I don't have everyone else's birthdays memorized, I'll have to ask any of you to send me an e-mail. Tell me how you celebrated your 60th birthday if it has already past, how you plan to celebrate if you have big plans, and report back how you really celebrated it.