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By all accounts mine was a difficult birth, not a pleasurable experience for anyone concerned.
My parents taught me to behave like a gentleman. We never lacked for food on our table. . .
. . . but Meat Loaf for dinner AGAIN?
Kindergarten was a lot of fun, especially the teacher, Miss Bottlebottom.
Most of us have had elementary school teachers who had an effect on us which lasted for the rest of our lives, and I was no
exception. So Miss Gist, wherever you are, this one's for YOU!
I didn't go to Woodstock. I was only fifteen. But Grace Slick, this one's for YOU!
High school was a time of new and unusual experiences.
It was the gentle, patient guidance of Dr. Yokley, the head of the biology department at the University of North Alabama,
which convinced me to change my major from biology to chemistry. Dr. Yokley, wherever you are, this one's for YOU!
After five years I received my B.S. in chemistry, graduating in the upper two-thirds of my class.
Out of college I tried a variety of professions, but was not particularly successful at any.
I spent a year at a biohazard facility at the University of Alabama in Birmingham, where I had the privilege of working with
Dr. Roy Curtiss, one of the pioneers of recombinant DNA research.
I considered enrolling at the University of Alabama in Huntsville to pursue an engineering degree, but I was not impressed
with the faculty.
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