Lee High School - Huntsville Alabama Alumni

Geek Speak

For Mere Mortals

by Tommy Towery

Class of '64

MP3 - is short for MPEG (Moving Pictures Experts Group) Layer - 1, the group that help make MP3 an international standard. Since computer files commonly have a three character type the MPEG was shortened to MP3.

Music tracks in other formats are extremely large in file size and were not practical to send through email or offer them for download on the Internet. MP3 music files however, are compressed an average of 10 to 12 times smaller than the original size (but still retain their quality), making them small enough to fit in the memory of the smalll MP3 players and to download from the web. Most songs can now be purchased in this digital form for around 99 cents a song and can be downloaded to your home computer to put on your portable MP3 player.

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My First Car

by Barb Biggs Knott

Class of 66

Oh my goodness did Jeff’s photo and article about his first car bring back memories for me! My first car was a ’66 Volkswagon Beetle. I have enclosed a photo of my husband and me with my pride and joy right after we got married. (Dig those crazy white boots) It had been the worst snow storm in 20 years and my wonderful bug was the only reliable car that would start and go through the snow. I drove my beetle until the engine blew up about 80,000 miles later. The only issue I ever had with it was replacing the fan belt quite often.

1966 Beetle Stats

Number of Volkswagen Beetles Produced in the year 1966 - 1,080,165

1300 Engine was one year only for the Beetle

Maximum Output: 50hp at 4600 RPM

Maximum and Cruising Speed: 74 MPH

Acceleration in Seconds: 0-60mph 23.0

Average Fuel Efficiency: 28.5 Miles per Gallon

Fuel Tank: 10.6 Gallons

Battery: 6 Volt

Turning Circle: 36 feet

Curb Weight: 1672 Lbs

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Aaron Potts, First Class of Lee - Who could forget the mystery photo of Ernie Kovacs, who was killed in an auto accident in January of 1962. One of my favorite characters with the words “"Nothing in Moderation" - The epitaph on his tombstone. For some reason I always associated him with Groucho Marx. I don’t know if it was the cigar, or the mustache, or both.

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John Turrentine, Class of '65 - The actor was Ernie Kovacs and his wife was the lovely Edie Adams (Cigar?, cigarette?, Tipparillo?) He was actually killed while driving a Corvair Station wagon. According to an article in Cigar Aficionado, police suspect he was distracted while lighting a cigar as one was found in the front seat, unlit. A really funny guy who was really a pioneer in TV comedy.....

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Gudrun Wagner Klauss, Class of '65 - The Mystery Photo this week is of Ernie Kovacs. I really enjoyed his innovative comedy and craziness. His wife was the lovely Edie Adams who did the commercials for Muriel Cigars - "Why don't you pick one up and smoke it sometime?"

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Jim Myrick, Class of '66 - Ernie Kovacs. The wife was Edie Adams and she advertised Muriel Cigars. Not sure if any of the names are spelled right.

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Chip Smoak, Class of '66 - This week's mystery photo is of Ernie Kovacs. He was married to Edie Adams. I do not remember the product that she promoted but I well remember her singing "Hey Big Spender" in the commercials which she did to pay back taxes that her husband owed at his death.

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J.R. Brooks, Class of '64 - The comedian was Ernie Kovacs. His wife was the very sexy Edie Adams. I am stumped as to what she advertised. I probably paid no attention to the product. I was watching Edie.

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Carolyn Burgess Featheringill, Class of '65 - The subject of the Mystery photo in this week's paper is Ernie Kovacs. His wife was Edie Adams. Others get the opportunity to identify the product she advertised as I had to check with Google before I went out on a limb and named it.

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Linda Beal Walker, Class of '66 - Ernie Kovacs is this week's mystery photo. He was married to Edie Adams who did the Muriel Cigar commercials. I think he was also in the movie "North to Alaska" starring John Wayne.

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Arni Clinton Anderson, Class of '62 - Aanother fine Traveller.as always. The pic is of Ernie Kovac. HIs wife and sidekick was Edie Gormet and she pushed the "White Owl Cigars" , I think it was, "Why don't you pick one up and smoke it sometimes.

(Editor's Note: It was Muriel Cigars and Edie Adams not Gormet - nice try though and better than some.)

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Patrice Williams Waller, Class of '71 - That's Ernie Kovacs who was married to Edie Adams. She was wayyyy ahead of her time in asking you to "pick one up and try it" - that being a Muriel cigar!!!! She was a cute little lady - and that was definitely different for that era! I love the Traveller - thank you so much for doing such a fabulous job of keeping us connected to our past. It's a weekly treat!!

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Class of '68 and '69 Reunion

by Rod Dixon

Here are the details as they stand now. We have settled on July 18th for the actual reunion, we are booking a room in the Civic Center, (Lynn Broad works there) and he is getting us a cut on the rate. Susan is working with him to finalize the details and she will be working on the menu, most likely heavy orderve's. We have a band in mind, they are called Room 240 and they play rock and roll and a little bit of country. Good band. We will be meeting again March 3rd to really kick things into gear. Sounds like most of the communication with former class mates is going to be by e-mail, Facebook and whatever high tech means are available. Of course we are going to also use snail mail for those who we can't track down with technology. Anyway, if you have classmates e-mail address or regular address or phone numbers, please pass them along to Shirley or contact them and have them get in touch with us. We are also going to do a warm up on Friday night but haven't pinned down any details as of yet. We might try a Sunday morning thing again, but not sure at this time. It will be here before you know it, so please pass the word along to as many people you have contact with. Thanks.

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Nora and Nick Identify Mystery Photo

by Rainer Klauss

Class of 1964

Gudrun (the real sleuth in our family) quickly identified Ernie Kovacs, Edie Adams, and her provocative question in the series of commercials she did for Muriel. Well, I took the alluring Edie up on her suggestion back then. She’s partly responsible for the brief time I was a smoker. It happened during the spring of ’65 in Auburn. I had barely scraped by through two tough quarters, been dumped unceremoniously by my high school sweetheart, and I needed something to give me a little “coolness.”

I didn’t want to take on the habit or expense of cigarettes, and smoking cigars was going too far. Sporting an occasional Tiparillo as I made my way around the campus or while hanging out with friends seemed exactly the right choice. I was ragged, no doubt, for this sudden grasp at sophistication, but that mild taunting or teasing didn’t discourage me. The jaunty air this activity seemed to give me only lasted about three weeks, though. In part, I got tired of hauling around and keeping track of the minimal baggage: 5-pack of Tiparillos, matches or lighter. I realized, too, that I wasn’t getting any pleasure out of the experience: cheap cigar smoke wasn’t savory. And the “coolness” factor was zero: I was just blowing smoke.

Sorry, Edie, it just wasn’t me.

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Subject:Corvair

Eddie Burton

Class of 66

Tommy, thanks for the honor of featuring my letter about my Corvair. By the way it was a snow and ice machine. In the winters in Huntsville sometimes we'd get a little snow and ice and that baby would go when nobody else could. I was taking it for a spin in a sub-division during a snowy night we had and I went up into someone's front yard and wiped out a couple of young saplings. But you couldn't get that sucker stuck for anything.

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Subject:Class of '82

Lance George

Class of '82

We are using Facebook as an Alumni site for reunion planning. Is there a way to link to this from your site? I have never heard of AlumniClass.com. Most of the ‘70’s and ‘80’s and ‘90’s classes will be using this. The classes around ours are:

1979: (Closed Group) http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=45767752256

1980: none yet

1981: none yet

1982: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=58749602618

1983: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=50071630302

1984: none yet

1985: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=32242036193

The ‘60’s classes use www.leestraveller.com

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