Dick, No Jane

Richard Groth

Description

Sitting around with friends, I would usually have an opportunity to bring up one of my stories.
Hey, that reminds me of this vacation, that sports road trip, or one of the movies l worked on. Finally,
After years of listening, my good friend Brenda blurted out: "Would you just write a....ing book."
I’ve been to 27 countries and have a lot of stories, starting in the spring of 1970.
Most of them good.
Most of them fun and interesting.
Some of them informative. (little bit of tour guide)
And alcohol has a part in a "few" of them.

Sujets

• Special Interest
• Travel
• Business

Informations

• Publié par: Xlibris US
• Date de parution: 23 juillet 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664186170
• Langue: English

Extrait

DICK, NO JANE
 
 
lt’s about me, Richard I have some good life stories
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richard Groth
 
 
Copyright © 2021 by Richard Groth.
Library of Congress Control Number:2021914818
ISBN:
Hardcover
978-1-6641-8616-3

Softcover
978-1-6641-8615-6

eBook
978-1-6641-8617-0
 
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
 
 
 
Rev. date: 04/13/2023
 
 
 
Xlibris
844-714-8691
www.Xlibris.com
820236
CONTENTS
Book Blurb
70’S
’71 Lewis Spring
’72 Spain
’72 Spain—After School
’73 Lewis Thursdays
’73 Spring Break
Streaking ’73
’74 Kitzbuhel
’74 NAIA Baseball
’75 Larry and Chickie
Westgate ’75—Groth Invitational
’75 New Orleans
Condesa del Mar ’75 and ’76
Montreal ’76
’76 Condesa del Mar, Wayne Newton
Condesa del Mar ’77—Last Call
’77 West—RV
’77 Cubs
’78 NCAA Basketball
’78—ALCS in Kansas City
’79 New Year’s Day
80’s
’80 Lake Placid
’80 STL Chuck’s Band
’80 Kansas City
’80 Bears in Cleveland
’81 Canada RV
’81 Mich. City
’81 Bears in Detroit
’82 Phoenix
’82 Honeymoon
’82 Cincy
Bootlegger’s
’82 Playoff Baseball
’83 Phoenix
’83 Europe Vic
Europe—Vic-Milan
’83 MLB All-Star Game
’83 Cubs—Vic-Don
’83 Bears in Baltimore
’84 Phoenix
’84 STL
’84 Shaw’s
’85 Spring
Farm Aid ’85
’85 Bears and Hawks in Detroit
’86 Phoenix
’87 Pittsburgh
’87 Cincy
’87 Boston
’88 NBA
8/8/88
’88 Bears
’89 Western Open
’89 STL
’89 My Wrist
90’s
’90 Phoenix
’90 MLB All-Star Game
’91 NHL All-Star Game
’91 Boston and Pittsburgh
Movie Extra ’91
’91 Spain
’91 Gambling
’91 Seven Days
’91 Dad-NY
’91 New Orleans
September’s ’90s
’92 Toronto
’92 Europe
’92 Camden Yards
Movie Extra ’92
’92 Christa’s Honeymoon
’92 Belfour
’93 STL
’93 Cincy
Movie Extra ’93
’93 Sox Playoff Game
’94 DC
’94 V-B-P
’94 Denver
’94 World Cup
’95 Italy
Boat-I Summer of ’95
’95 Montreal
’95 DC
’96 Belgium
Boat-2 Summer of ’96
’96 Atlanta
’96 New Orleans
’97 London
’97 Toronto
Movie Extra ’96 and ’97
Boat-3 Summer of ’97
’97 Madrid
’98 Tracey
’98 Greece
’98 Greece—Flight Home
Boat-4 Summer of ’98
Boat-5 Fall of ’98
’99 Europe
’99 Steph
Boat-6 Summer of ’99
Boat-7 Fall of ’99
’99 Tiger Stadium
00’s
2000 Greece
Boat-8 July 2000
2000 Titanic
2000 Ixtapa
2001 Rome
Boat-9 2001
2001 Columbus Pre-50
2001 Columbus, My Fiftieth
2002 JD’s Fiftieth
2002 Boston-Harrisburg
2002 Steph
Boat-10 Summer of 2002
2002 Matt—Wrigley/Milwaukee
Boat-11 Summer of 2003
2003 STL
Michigan City 2004
Fox’s 2004–Gator’s 2005
2005 Milwaukee/Matt
Michigan City 2005
2006 Nashville #1
2006 Gumbo
2006 Dad
2006 Steph
2006 Cubs with Brenda
Michigan City 2006
2006 Jaime
2006 Nashville #2
2006 My Ribs
2007 STL
2008 PA-NY
2008 Jordan
2008 Egypt
Mom Called
2009 STL
2009 Kentucky Derby
Michigan City 2009
2009 Copenhagen
2009 Stockholm
2009 Bears in Cincy
10’s
2010 Shawna
2010 Fraternity Reunions
2010 Cubs in Cincy
2010 Michigan City
2010 STL
2011 Pensacola Beach
2011 Old Route 66
2011 Amish/Rock and Roll
Michigan City 2011
2011 STL
Michigan City 2012
2012 STL
2013 STL #1
2013 Cubs in Cincy
2013 Steph
2013 E-L-C
2013 STL #2
2014 Nashville Pensacola Memphis
Michigan City 2014
2014 STL
2014 Madrid
2015 St. Joseph, Michigan
2016 Lisbon
2016 Lisbon Flight Home
Appendix
BOOK BLURB
Sitting around with friends, I would usually have an opportunity to bring up one of my stories: Hey, that reminds me of this vacation, that sports road trip, or one of the movies I worked on. Finally, after years of listening, my good friend Brenda blurted out, “Would you just write a ——ing book?”
 
I’ve been to twenty-seven countries and have a lot of stories, starting in the spring of 1970.
Most of them good.
Most of them fun and interesting.
Some of them informative (a little bit of tour guide).
And alcohol has a part in a “few” of them.
 
My journey begins in June 1970, after graduating from Marist Catholic High School on the far southwest side of Chicago. A month earlier, thirteen college kids were shot at Kent State University while protesting the Vietnam War. Four died.
On July 1, I took Sue, my girlfriend, to the Indiana Dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan. That same day, the US government had a lottery for young men eligible to be drafted into the army. If you were born in 1951, you got a number based on the order the birthdays were picked. Most of my friends were born in ’52, but I came along in November ’51, so I qualified.
When we got home, her mom was waiting at the front door. The look on her face said it all. “November 24 th , right?” She wanted to be sure. “Your number is eighty-one.” Not good news, because it was low enough for me to be drafted.
I didn’t want to go into the army and definitely didn’t want to go to Vietnam. To this day, I’ve never fired a gun and never been remotely interested in doing so.
I had been accepted at Lewis College in Lockport, Illinois, about fifty miles southwest of downtown Chicago. As a full-time student, I qualified for a deferment that would exempt me from the draft. Sounds good, right? Except I was a screwup and almost flunked out my freshman year. Had that happened, my name would have been put back in.
What saved me was pledging TKE (Tau Kappa Epsilon), a fraternity at Lewis known for its partying. Luckily, the fraternities at Lewis had an agreement with the administration that every student pledging a frat had mandatory study hours at the library, Monday through Thursday. That agreement saved my ass, kept me in school and out of the draft.
My dad was a Purple Heart veteran from World War II. I can remember telling him if drafted, I would consider going to Canada to avoid going into the army and avoid going to Vietnam. I knew it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to hear, but he told me to do what I needed to do. I’ve never forgotten what he said, especially coming from a dad in that era and especially coming from a Purple Heart veteran.
 
Let me backtrack to my first day at college. My mom and dad drove me there and waited, hoping to meet my roommate, but had to leave before he arrived. Pat got there a short time later with his mom, his dad, and (how could I forget?) his sister, a Chicago Playboy Bunny.
Now, the rest of my life.
70’S
’71 LEWIS SPRING
It’s April of my freshman year, and I hadn’t flunked out. During an intramural softball game involving an all-white fraternity and the BSU (Black Student Union), a fight broke out. Things escalated over the course of the evening, with a bunch of black students taking over the student lounge located on the first floor of Fitzpatrick Hall, a three-story dormitory that would remind you of a U-shaped Motel 6. It also included the switchboard and the school radio station. When word started to spread, the small campus started to heat up.
White students began to fill up the snack bar in the school’s Student Union building, but quickly ran out of room, so everyone moved to the gym, where it turned into a full-fledged rally. Soon after that, a large group began the short walk across campus. Local police had been notified and showed up in full riot gear. They dispersed the white students first, then cleared out the lounge.
I was pledging TKE at the time, and most of us were at a fraternity party in Joliet the next day when we got a call, learning Smitty, one of our pledge brothers, had been jumped by a couple of guys from the BSU. Hearing that, a bunch of us hopped into three cars and headed back to the campus.
Somewhere on Route 53, the police pulled over the first car, so the other two cars pulled up behind them.
We had been drinking, but after explaining we were heading to Lewis to help one of our brothers, the officer let us go. When we got there, Smitty was OK, and things had calmed down. From that point on, everyone seemed to get along.
My room was also in Fitz, on the first floor, in the middle of the U, with a large window just above the desk. It conveniently opened at ground level, so it was easy to sneak girls in.
 
One evening, we welcomed in a few prospects who told us they attended St. Francis, a college in Joliet, about six miles from Lewis. You could actually take some classes at either school, so we had an immediate connection, but only until they clarified which school they attended. It was St. Francis, but it wasn’t the college; it was a local high school. That