Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Great Aches by John Allison John Allison. 8th great grandparent John Allison married Eleanor Henry ABT 1700 in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's County. THE SARAH ATTACHED TO THEIR MEMORIAL IS NOT THEIR DAUGHTER: Contributed by Ralph D. Smith. Nov. 1748 - Capt. James Edmonston, of Prince George's Co., Gent., leases to John Allison, of Prince George's Co., planter, all that tract of land, now in the tenure and occupation of the said John Allison, being part of a tract called "Prevention," lying on Rock Creek (adjoining John Hardy), containing about 71 acres. This lease is for the term of the natural lives of the said John Allison, Eleanor his wife, and George Tannehill, grandson of the said John Allison. The yearly rent, payable at Rock Creek Landing in Prince George's Co., is 600 pounds of tobacco. Allison may not assign the lease without Edmonston's permission. Allison will, within 1 year, plant an orchard of 100 trees. Ninian Tannehill, Sr., witnesses the lease. Source: Prince George's Co., Md. Land Records, Liber EE, p. 600. Comment: John's grandson, George Tannehill, is the son of John's dau. Sarah Allison and her husband Andrew Tannehill. MarylandPrince George's Land Records 1739-1743 - Liber Y - Page 365. Aug 25, 1741 from John Allison of PG, planter, to Henry Allison, son and heir apparent of the sd John Allison, for the natural love that sd John Allison has for sd Henry Allison, and for the better maintenance, support, livelihood, and preferment of sd Henry Allison, and for 10 £ sterling, John gives Henry a tract of land called Scotland, in Maryland, being part of a tract of land called Allisons Adventure, lying in PG, and bounded by the south side of a small branch that runs into Potowmack River about 4 miles below the mouth of Monocasey River, containing and laid out for about 150 acres. Signed - John Allison. Wit - Thomas Lee, Js Wilson*, Richard Keene*. This deed was acknowledged by John Allison and Eleanor, his wife, parties to the within deed. Recorded Aug 25, 1741. 8th great grandparent John Allison married Eleanor Henry ABT 1700 in Queen Anne Parish, Prince George's County. THE SARAH ATTACHED TO THEIR MEMORIAL IS NOT THEIR DAUGHTER: Contributed by Ralph D. Smith. Nov. 1748 - Capt. James Edmonston, of Prince George's Co., Gent., leases to John Allison, of Prince George's Co., planter, all that tract of land, now in the tenure and occupation of the said John Allison, being part of a tract called "Prevention," lying on Rock Creek (adjoining John Hardy), containing about 71 acres. This lease is for the term of the natural lives of the said John Allison, Eleanor his wife, and George Tannehill, grandson of the said John Allison. The yearly rent, payable at Rock Creek Landing in Prince George's Co., is 600 pounds of tobacco. Allison may not assign the lease without Edmonston's permission. Allison will, within 1 year, plant an orchard of 100 trees. Ninian Tannehill, Sr., witnesses the lease. Source: Prince George's Co., Md. Land Records, Liber EE, p. 600. Comment: John's grandson, George Tannehill, is the son of John's dau. Sarah Allison and her husband Andrew Tannehill. MarylandPrince George's Land Records 1739-1743 - Liber Y - Page 365. Aug 25, 1741 from John Allison of PG, planter, to Henry Allison, son and heir apparent of the sd John Allison, for the natural love that sd John Allison has for sd Henry Allison, and for the better maintenance, support, livelihood, and preferment of sd Henry Allison, and for 10 £ sterling, John gives Henry a tract of land called Scotland, in Maryland, being part of a tract of land called Allisons Adventure, lying in PG, and bounded by the south side of a small branch that runs into Potowmack River about 4 miles below the mouth of Monocasey River, containing and laid out for about 150 acres. Signed - John Allison. Wit - Thomas Lee, Js Wilson*, Richard Keene*. This deed was acknowledged by John Allison and Eleanor, his wife, parties to the within deed. Recorded Aug 25, 1741. Great Graphic Novels (#GGN2022) Featured Review of Wicked Things by John Allison and Max Sarin. Everyone’s favorite supernatural detective, Lottie Grote, is back and ready to show the world who the best detective is! Fresh from her time in John Allison’s Giant Days and Bad Machinery series, Lottie is now 19 years old and wanting to start her dream life off right. She’s on her way to Oxford, ready to be on her own, and on top of that, she’s finally being recognized for her years of stellar detective work by being nominated for the National Solver’s Teen Detective of the Year Award. But, things go horribly awry when Charlotte is framed for attempted murder at the very awards ceremony where she was going to wow them all. Her choice: go to jail or join up with the local police to try and clear her name. She decides she’ll show them all just how talented of a detective she really is or maybe just how well she can fix everyone a nice cuppa. Wicked Things is a fun, full-of-mystery story detailing a young person on their own for the first time. The parallels of being in a place where she’s having to prove herself and surrounded by new and interesting people to the teen and young adult experience is a perfect match. Lottie is a fun and relatable character as well as a great sleuth who thinks outside the box. She’s finding her place in a world where she doesn’t quite feel like she fits in. And, after leaving her friends from the Bad Machinery days, she wants to make her mark in the work by showcasing her greatest love—solving mysteries! Growing up is hard enough, but trying to prove you didn’t try and murder your greatest inspiration, well that’s just the worst! Recommend this to fans of John Allison’s work including Bad Machinery , Steeple, and Giant Days . Other Nominated Titles. Feelings by Manjit Thapp (March 2, 2021) The Tea Dragon Tapestry by Katie O’Neill (June 1, 2021) The Selected Lists teams read throughout the year in search of the best titles published in their respective categories. Once a book is suggested (either internally or through the field nomination form), it must pass through a review process to be designated an official nomination. Each week, the teams will feature a review of one of the officially nominated titles. Additional titles to receive this designation will be listed as well. At year’s end, the team will use that list of nominated titles to select a final list and Top Ten. The previous years’ lists are also made available on The Hub. The Secret Origin of writer/artist John Allison. Best known for his work on the comic book series Giant Days, writer/artist John Allison has been on a roll with his current work - By Night and Wicked Things for BOOM! Studios, and Steeple for Dark Horse Comics. But before Allison was a prolific creator in comic books, he made his mark in webcomics - first with Bobbins, followed by Scary Go Round and Bad Machinery - the latter of which is still underway. Allison has carved a space in print and webcomics with 'slice of life' storytelling and refreshing narratives - along with a signature art style. And now in the latest of our “Year One”-style interview series The Secret Origin Of…, Newsarama talks with the English writer about his career so far, how he broke into comics to begin with, and the differences between working on webcomics and print comic books. Newsarama: John, to jump in, what made you want to work in comics? John Allison: I genuinely have no idea. If you look at the comics I made as a child, I clearly wasn’t any kind of savant artist and storyteller. The UK scene is so small that I was never going to be able to work in UK comics, so I didn’t take things particularly seriously - the USA seemed incredibly out of reach. I think being on the internet when it first kicked off, in the late '90s, made the world feel suddenly much smaller, like these things were worth having a go at. Nrama: Do you remember the first comic book you read? Allison: This is quite hard. I remember my Dad bringing me a couple of DC comics - one was an issue of Superman where he rubs some alien pollen on his head so he can have a haircut at a normal barber. I think he has to escape a gorilla who doesn’t like his black hair. You will have to trust me on this. Another was an issue of Arion. I think this was about 1982, so I was probably six. Nrama: What inspired you to create your first webcomic, Bobbins? Allison: When I finished university, it took me a few months to get a job, so I spent the summer trying to look busy at my parents’ house so they wouldn’t get “restless” shall we say. I decided to put a submission packet together for US comic syndicates - that was how I started making the strips that I called Bobbins. I put the strips online and the rest is history. Nrama: What attracted you to the webcomic form of storytelling? Allison: A strip is a manageable unit of production, especially early on if, like me, you'd never successfully made a longer comic. The ease-of- access for readers and relationship with the audience were also two things that I perhaps took for granted until I moved to working in print. Nrama: Did you always want to work in webcomics or was it a stepping stone to get into traditional publishing? Allison: When I started, webcomics weren’t really a thing. It was an accident that I ended up part of the first wave. It was much easier to make money as a one-man operation than eking a tiny advance or maybe a feeble royalty from one of the indie publishers. My work wasn’t right for them anyway, not for a long time. Inevitably I became a self-publisher, which was a route into the traditional world anyway. It felt organic. Nrama: Would you like to do more webcomics? Do you see a future in combining the traditional form of comic storytelling with webcomics? Allison: I’m still making webcomics - I think it’s important to keep my hand in. Launching indie comics series is a hard lift through the direct market, the world is very unpredictable at the moment, and there is value in being able to do everything oneself. I’m unlikely to launch a new, long- running comic like Scary Go Round - it's harder to build an audience now than it was. I’m not sure I’m a good fit for Tapas or Webtoon, where there are a lot of young readers. I think my hybrid webcomic/traditional approach has worked well for a few people - Molly Ostertag and Noelle Stevenson are two people who come to mind as having had great results. It’s a balancing act, getting your comics to do two jobs. It’s not particularly easy. Your print books can end up a bit dense, or your strips a bit sparse - there are two masters to serve. It creates pacing issues. Nrama: What was your reaction to Giant Days' overnight success? Allison: Relief. It was a relief to work on something that went beyond the readers I’d cultivated with my webcomics. Nrama: How has your work on Giant Days helped you with your other projects? Allison: It’s made it a little bit easier to pitch projects, but the structure of Giant Days isn’t actually something you can transpose onto other projects. The luxury of a simple setup and an old-fashioned long run of issues made a lot of things possible that I (personally) can’t do with a six-issue limited series. You have two choices there: cram it in or fall short and hope they give you more. I read Little Bird (Image) and couldn’t believe what they achieved in five issues. I don’t have that gift. Nrama: How was working on a book like Giants Days different from working in webcomics? Allison: There’s a lack of feedback, I had to get used to that, because I always knew what people thought of my webcomics, from the comments section. But I enjoyed the ceremony of the monthly release - I like periodicals. I like waiting. I like working with talented people like I did on Giant Days. There were trade-offs. Part of me would have liked to have drawn it all myself - though I know it wouldn’t have been as good. I worked with genius artists and I am not a genius artist. Nrama: What made you want to work on more slice of life storytelling compared to the traditional superhero comics? Allison: Around 1996 I remember being alienated by the wall of cheesecake Image covers in my comic shop. Maybe I felt embarrassed by them in front of a friend. I don’t think I went in one again for five years. After the cheesecake wall experience, I got interested in slice-of-life, and comic strips, comics as a light, adult, entertainment form. I have been asked to write superhero comics and one day maybe I will, but it isn’t why I make comics, it feels like something I have to do, not a job. Nrama: Why do you think slice of life is an important genre to explore not just in webcomics, but in mainstream comics as well? Allison: It goes to my previous answer. I think superhero comics are fine, and I love so many of the artists who have worked in that genre, but the storytelling is inherently juvenile, yet the comics are designed to appeal to an aging audience. To truly understand them requires the monomania of a seven-year-old. They are not priced, or written, or drawn, for seven-year-olds. Slice of life, but more importantly, humor, is super-accessible. Garfield was, for a long time, the second most borrowed book in US libraries behind the Bible. This is a form people just like - why is so much work done at the periphery? Adults seem to love superhero movies to the exclusion of everything else but superhero comics don’t make sense to them - what they contain, how they’re sold, what it means to be seen reading one. Surely there’s a lesson there. Kat has been working in the comic book industry as a critic for over a decade with her YouTube channel, Comic Uno. She’s been writing for Newsarama since 2017 and also currently writes for DC Comics’ DC Universe - bylines include IGN, Fandom, and TV Guide. She writes her own comics with her titles Like Father, Like Daughter and They Call Her…The Dancer. Calamia has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and minor in Journalism through Marymount Manhattan and a MFA in Writing and Producing Television from LIU Brooklyn. Bobbins dot horse. Bobbins is my original webcomic, that ran from 1998 to 2002, and then again from 2013 to 2015. The first spell is when I learned how to make comics by drawing about a thousand quite primitive ones. The second run began when I had to make some “fake” Bobbins comics, set just before the original run (to fill in a bit of tricky continuity), and got back into making small strips. Bobbins dot horse continues the story in the late 90s, from those thirteen initial “fake” strips. It respects the form and content of my earliest comics, while walking between the raindrops to tell the story a different way. I’m not interested in re-doing the original stories, but on re-reading them, I’m interested in all the things I thought at the time and didn’t say. The original Bobbins was my attempt to become a syndicated cartoonist. This new run represents what it might have looked like if I’d had the slightest idea what I was doing in the autumn of 1998. It’s also a chance to explore characters who I treated quite irresponsibly, and introduce some new ones. I still like these people, and if I get this right, you still will too. I might manage twenty comics, or twenty-hundred. We’ll see! Do I need to have read all the old Bobbins comics? No, in fact, it’s better if you don’t. They’re really only of historical interest. The original art is lost to the ages and they’re tiny .gif files. Why “bobbins.horse”? A project as misguided as this needs a truly misguided domain name. I think I’ve achieved that. STEEPLE: A Scary Go Round Web Series Event. You may be dimly aware of my Dark Horse Comics mini-series, STEEPLE. I know I’m dimly aware of it. I loved working on it. In the run-up to the release of the Steeple collection in May, I present a new Steeple web-series – The Silvery Moon! I’ll be updating three times a week, M-W- F, into the summer. If you’ve not read Steeple before, this is a good jumping-on point, and if you have read it before, welcome back to Tredregyn. We’ve missed you! The epilogue to the Dark Horse series (a useful explainer) starts here: https://steeple.church/comic/2020-02-17/ THE SILVERY MOON starts here, there are four pages for you to read. https://steeple.church/comic/the-silvery-moon/ I’m a month ahead on this, and I think it’s really going places. I hope you’ll join me and make your mind up whether I’m wise or delusional. It’s bound to be one or the other. ITEM! If you can’t wait for the collection, Steeple is available in single issues via Comixology. Steeple concludes, issue #5 out today. Today (Jan 15th) sees the release (in comic shops and on Comixology) of the final issue of Steeple from Dark Horse Comics, written and drawn by me, coloured by Sarah Stern, and lettered by Jim Campbell. A trade paperback collection is due in May. This issue features another excellent variant cover, this time from Game of Thrones’ “Beautiful Deaths” artist Robert Ball. I’d like to say thank you to everyone who’s been along for the ride on these five issues. Sorry to anyone who struggled to find later issues – if you’re in the UK, you can fill the gaps in your collection at Page 45. And thank you too to everyone who has written to say they’d like to see the series continue. I would too! I have more Steeple stories ready to go, though I’m not yet sure when and where they’ll appear. But as a thank-you to our loyal readers, all of whom were left with, let me be honest, a cruel cliffhanger, I’ve put together a four-page epilogue (that will also appear in the upcoming collection. Think of it both as a closing statement, and a bridge to future adventures. If you’ve not read the series, it’s a huge spoiler, so don’t click until you’ve read issues 1-5 first. But if you have… I hope you like it. The best part of writing a series that feels like is works is the sudden opening up of new territory, like a video game map suddenly popping into view. I hope we get to go there eventually. So, without further ado… ALBUMS OF THE YEAR 2019. I’ve reached the point where very year I wonder if I’m too old and out of the loop to do a list. But I still managed forty albums so I’ve managed lists in three decades and could even muster a fourth. There is still a lot of new music in the world that I like. 1 DESIGNER – Aldous Harding 2 REWARD – Cate Le Bon 3 HOUSE OF SUGAR – (Sandy) Alex G 4 TITANIC RISING – Weyes Blood 5 ONLY THE BLUES – Dylan Moon 6 NETWORKER – Omni 7 ANAK KO – Jay Som 8 45 – School of Language 9 QUIET SIGNS – Jessica Pratt 10 WHY HASN’T EVERYTHING ALREADY DISAPPEARED? – Deerhunter. 11 EVERYBODY SPLIT – Possible Humans 12 TIP OF THE SPHERE – Cass McCombs 13 DOLPHINE – Mega Bog 14 THE VISITOR – Van Dale 15 TOWN CENTRE EP – Squid 16 ON THE LINE – Jenny Lewis 17 CAPTAIN SAD – Wisely Brothers 18 SIGNIFICANT CHANGES – Jayda G 19 A BATH FULL OF ECSTACY – Hot Chip 20 PUNK – CHAI. 21 GOLD PAST LIFE – Fruit Bats 22 SOUND & FURY – Sturgill Simpson 23 WHAT THE BROKEN HEARTED DO – Tim Heidecker 24 リピート (REPEAT) EP – Tricot 25 METRONOMY FOREVER – Metronomy 26 A YEAR – Jeremy Warmsley 27 I HAVE TO FEED LARRY’S HAWK – Tim Presley’s White Fence 28 FIBS – Anna Meredith 29 SWIMMERS – Younghusband 30 SHEPHERD IN A SHEEPSKIN VEST – Bill Callahan. 31 SONGS FROM SAN MATEO COUNTY – Tony Molina 32 MISS UNIVERSE – Nilufer Yanya 33 MYTHS 004 – Cate le Bon & Bradford Cox 34 GOES WEST – William Tyler 35 LITTLE COMMON TWIST – Ryley Walker & Charles Rumback 36 CLOSER TO GREY – Chromatics 37 RESAVOIR – Resavoir 38 AMERICAN LOVE CALL – Durand Jones & The Indications 39 12 LITTLE SPELLS – Esperanza Spalding 40 THIS (IS WHAT I WANTED TO TELL YOU) – Lambchop. Steeple #4 is out today. There are just two issues of STEEPLE left! Issue 4 is out today, it concerns the day that Witchfest came to town, and it’s maybe my favourite of the series. I had to draw a lot of witches. Not Sergio Aragones levels of “a lot”, but certainly “my arm aches” levels. There’s a preview below! Written and drawn by me, colours by SARAH STERN, letters by JIM CAMPBELL. Variant cover by WARWICK JOHNSON CADWELL! Get it from your local comic shop or on Comixology . Difficulty finding Steeple in the UK? I’ve had a few people in the UK write to me and say that they picked up Steeple #1 but have found it impossible to find issues 2 & 3. There aren’t too many on eBay, even. If you’re looking for issues, try Page 45 in Nottingham – they have 2s and 3s and will order 4 and 5 for you so you can get the set. Great Aches by John Allison. I went to John Allison’s memorial on January 3rd in Hemet, CA. It was really a great tribute to his memory. Larry Dubbs, Ron Fox, And Ash Hayes each gave very touching eulogies to John. The service was at a Catholic church and there were many, many people in attendance. John had lived in the community of Hemet for over 30 years and taught school much of that time so there were many friends and ex-students in attendance. There was also a large group of fellow Crawford grads there. I will try to remember as many of them as I can — Dan Helzer, Larry Dubbs, Ron Fox, Jim Rupe, Tom Whelan, Dave Bruen, Terry Walker, Terri Geismann Nichols, Lynn Elliott Townsend, Penny Bobrof, Al Pain, Charlie Tate, Bill Montejano, Duane Farrar, Bruce Parker, Hal Posthumous, Jim Pieri, Ash Hayes, Ron Layton, Bill Rainey, Mike Rainey, Chuck Rainey, Bob Watkins, Mike Roberts, and Ed Herrmann. Afterwards we assembled at a reception. It was said by one and all that John would really have enjoyed being there with all those friends, especially the Crawford contingent. It was almost as enjoyable as a reunion, except, obviously, that John was only there in our memories. Babe Ruth was once asked to describe his philosophy of life. He responded by saying “I swing big, I miss big, and I live big.” I think this accurately describes John Allison’s approach to life. He lived big, devouring everything life had to offer. John was a commanding presence, quickly becoming the center of attention whenever he entered a room. He exuded self-confidence. He seemed indestructible. In high school he was our leader, our alpha male. On the football and baseball fields, he simply refused to lose, and by his senior year losses rarely happened. The football team went undefeated and the baseball team lost only 4 games the entire season, leading to San Diego CIF championships in both sports. He was the man. We were friends, though not in the close, intimate sense he shared friendship with Bill Rainey, Jim Rupe, Larry Dubbs, Tom Whelan, and a few others. I was an interloper who moved to Crawford in the 10th grade. In those days, you had to earn your way into John’s confidence. He hated phonies and brownnosers. Once you were admitted into his circle, though, you had a loyal friend who would go to war for you. He was self- centered and could be abrupt and at times cruel in his teasing, but he could also take it, at least in those few instances when someone mustered the courage to toss a barb his way. He was not much interested in academics, or so it seemed to me. His world was the macho culture of the elite athlete. In this enclosed male culture, it wasn’t cool to show emotions, talk about feelings, doubts and fears, or admit to vulnerabilities. John seemed totally self-assured, boundless in energy, and unconcerned about the uncertainties of adult life. Although we were friends, I did not understand the true measure of the man. It wasn’t until John stopped playing sports, finished his college education, and returned from teaching in Kenya that I reconnected with him. It was at this time that the real John Allison revealed himself to me. He would become my best friend and confidant for the next thirty years. We roomed together several dozen times over the years on Spring Training trips, golf rendezvous, fishing outings, and at his home in Hemet. We talked into the night about life, loves, politics, and whatever topic struck our fancy. It was at these sessions that I really got to know John. He was still unpretentious, forthright, honest, and opinionated, as I remembered him in high school, but there was far more to John than I had realized. He was thoughtful and introspective, and highly intelligent, with an encyclopedic knowledge of history, especially presidential history. John revealed a deep empathy for his fellow man, especially for those less fortunate than he. He cared little for money or material things, which may appear surprising given that he grew up with little of these. He was extremely generous, to his family as well as to others in his expansive circle. He worked 40 years to provide for his family and made certain they would be provided for after he died. John was an unrepentant democrat, a rare breed indeed in our Crawford High circle as well as in largely Republican Hemet. At first this surprised me, but on reflection it made sense. John was an expression of the values inculcated in him by his, and his wife’s families. His father, George, was a diehard Democrat, which he saw as the party of working people. Linda’s parents were also life-long Democrats. They taught John to work hard and be proud of his working class roots. They taught him to treat people fairly and never act as if he were better than others. They inculcated in him the motto that “everyone does better when everyone does better,” a motto he lived by until the day he died. These influences inculcated in John a generosity of spirit that in his later years made him more tolerant and less judgmental of his fellow man, though his argumentative nature sometimes obscured this sentiment. As I got to know John better, my respect and admiration for him grew. I have never known a person more comfortable with who he was, more comfortable in his own body. He never wanted to be anyone other than John Allison. What I admired most about him was that he didn’t take himself too seriously, an alien notion among the university professors with whom I’m associated. John concerned himself with only the truly important things in his life; everything else was fodder for light-hearted banter. He taught me to put things in perspective, to not sweat the small stuff. I cherished the times we spent together, not only for our many adventures and laughs, but for his influence in getting me to look more closely at myself. I found John a challenging thinker, acting out dramas of self, engaging with our times, using his life and his character to challenge my self- satisfaction. He was, in the classic Jeffersonian sense, a good citizen who ratcheted up the bar of what a good citizen should be. Oh sure, John could be mouthy, and he loved to argue, espousing his views with the conviction of Zeus, but he did so in such a lighthearted, almost tongue-in-cheek, way that he disarmed even his harshest critics. It was difficult to tell when John was serious, putting you on, or using irony to make a point. He detested the Republican Party, but this did not prevent him from having close friendships with its fellow travelers. John had hundreds of friends. He especially liked hard-working, salt-of-the-earth people. I can’t count the times he’d say to me, “I got this buddy in . . . .”—he had buddies seemingly everywhere, from England to Kenya, from Australia to Alaska, and throughout the continental US. When we talked about taking a trip, most recently to New York and Costa Rica, he’d mention a buddy he knew there. These buddies were not just casual friends; they were always of the kind that would welcome him into their homes. John Allison made friends easily and when he did, it was for life. He was loyal and engaging, generous and benevolent; he was fun to be around. John Allison died far too young, but he packed a lot of life into his 63 years. He lived life to the fullest, and, as Frank Sinatra sang, he did it his way. He touched many lives: family, friends, colleagues, students, ballplayers, bar friends, working people. As he had made those with whom he played on his teams better, he made those he befriended better. His self-confidence made us feel better about ourselves. His honesty and straight- forwardness made us less inclined to be pretentious or self-promoting. His generosity of spirit made us more giving and tolerant. His remembrances and engaging personality helped us connect with our pasts. His sense of justice made us pursue fairer outcomes. His humanity helped us see a morality beyond ourselves. His far too early passing has made us, I believe, more aware of our own mortality, and I suspect we will all be more focused now on our diets and exercise routines. I would be remiss not to say a few words about the extraordinary bonds that have formed among the circle of Crawford graduates who were friends back in high school, many of whom are here today. The fact that many of us have kept in touch over the years is rare, indeed. I know other 1962 graduates from other high schools, and even some Crawford graduates from earlier and later years, and they do not share the lasting friendships that we do. Even former teachers and coaches have kept in touch. The feelings we have for each other are very special. I don’t think our bond is a product of nostalgia or the sentimentality that comes with aging; rather, it is, I believe, a product of the kind of people we were. We were of very strong character, with solid values for hard work, responsibility, decency, community, striving, and remembrance. We believed strongly in ourselves and what we could accomplish if we set our minds to a goal. These values served us well on the playing fields and in later life, where we have found great success, in business and finance, management, education, public service, and other pursuits. We were exemplary mothers and fathers. No one more embodied these values than John Allison. His life story is our story. From modest backgrounds, we achieved a great deal and now enjoy lives of far greater comfort than our parents. And through it all, like John, we have not forgotten from where we came and who was important and meaningful in our lives. This is what made John different, and I think what explains our bonds that endure. So John is now in heaven reunited with George, who sadly left him when John was only 23-years old. I can hear George’s greeting, though, knowing George, in far more colorful language than described here: Well son, it’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time. Congratulations on your athletic achievements, though I must say I expected them. What I’m most proud of is the kind of person you were. You did things right, treated people fairly, worked hard, shared what you earned, and provided for your family. You were a good father and husband. You were a friend to many and a pain in the rear to Republicans. Welcome, we have a lot of catching up to do. Goodbye, old friend. Your passing has left a void in the lives of many people. But take heart, your legacy will live on in each and every one of those you touched. For me, you will live on in my heart and in my spirit. J OHN ALBERT ALLISON by. First of all I would like to thank Linda for letting me speak today. I consider it an honor to address all of you with my thoughts on John Albert Allison and the impact that he had on all of those he came in contact with. Now take a moment and think of the first time you met John. All of us can remember the first time we meet John because he always made a lasting impression. My memory was at a little league tryout. I said to myself “who was that cool guy with that swagger and confidence.” I can think of only two others with that swagger, John Wayne & Mickey Mantle. I soon found out who he was. Those characteristics never changed though out his entire life. He just added to them. As a young man he was as tuff of a guy you would ever want to meet. Some say it wasn’t just in his youth. His athletic ability was known by all. But it was his engaging personality and his zest for life that we all truly loved. A testament to this is the effect he had on all of us. These past few weeks have been hard for all of us, but when I get angry at losing a dear friend that I loved, I envision Johnny grabbing my shoulder, cocking his head and looking me straight in the eye with that big smile and saying “now come on Dubbers”. Many of us were his contemporaries but we all looked up to “Winners”, this is what Jim Rupe tabbed him with as a teenager. That truly defines John. For he was a winner his entire life, he won on the field of play, he was a winner with a beautiful family, he was a winner as a teacher and coach as many of you know firsthand. John was a winner with those of us known as the BOYS. Ron Fox put it another way as he referred to John as the alpha male. To illustrate this, not many of us have a song that describes us as John has. Ron wrote lyrics to the sixties song Big John that fit our John. If you remember that song, the closing line went something like this “There lies one hell of a man”. We all loved him and will remember him always. One tribute we can offer is our commitment to remember his love of his friends and strive to continue that in our lives. I am not going to say goodbye to John because he will never leave me in my heart and thoughts and God willing we will be together again. Now before I go I would like you all, to look at some one near you, with a big smile and say “CHEERS”.