No 6, 2015 I $5 Saturday Best Everybody’s crazy ’bout a sharp-dressed band n BLOCH PAINTINGS n WILLMOTT FILMS Contents | November 2015 30 38 24 30 24 38 Suit Up the Band Artist’s Retreat The Big Picture With snappy new uniforms A new exhibition and book Drawing on his activist past, of KU crimson and blue, a revisit the work and life of Kevin Willmott has made lms Wichita family rm ensures Lawrence’s most famous that illuminate America’s that the Marching Jayhawks unknown artist, painter troubled racial history. Now look as good as they sound. Albert Bloch. he teams with Spike Lee to take on a painful new chapter By Chris Lazzarino By Chris Lazzarino that’s still making headlines. Cover photograph By Steven Hill by Steve Puppe Established in 1902 as e Graduate Magazine Volume 113, No. 6, 2015 ISSUE 6, 2015 | 1 Your newest membership benefit— just in time for the holidays! 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ISSUE 6, 2015 | 3 Lift the Chorus century, illustrate not only the quest for discovery that drives eld biologists, but more importantly the lasting signi cance of the specimens and archival eld data that reside at KU Natural History Museum and other such institutions. Together, they constitute the single most important source of informa- tion on the world’s biodiversity. ank you! Eric Rickart, c’74, g’76 Biodiversity The Wheel, 1977 treasures Salt Lake City I Steven “T D” Hill’s article, “True Detectives” brought back old memories to I would work my way up the Wheel toast [issue No. 5], spotlighting the me. During my years at KU, building through the diorama, important research in herpe- 1952 to 1956, I worked for the past Comanche and through T tology that has had such a long electrical department of the birds to the herpetology together such a great article on tradition at KU. Buildings and Grounds and my rooms with all of the scary the history of e Wheel As a student, I had some primary function was to specimens in glass jars. Finally, [“Where Everybody Knows interesting conversations with replace burned out light bulbs. I would end up in the pent- Your Name,” issue No. 5]. As a Edward Taylor and was During the years ’54 to ’55 and house that was the private guy who worked for both Woo amazed at the incredible career ’55 to ’56, I would spend domain of Dr. Taylor, or and Knobbie, I can say this was of this remarkable man. almost every Saturday morning “Snakes” Taylor as he was done perfectly. Much later, while conducting working in the Natural History a ectionately known. I love KU, but I love e research on mammals in the Museum in Dyche Hall, For some reason, Dr. Taylor Wheel just as much. It is so mountains of northern Luzon, starting in the basement liked to tell me stories about much more than just a bar. I I had the pleasure of working watching the vertebrate his expeditions, so when I was a Beta at KU, but I have closely with Rafe Brown. paleontologist reconstruct a nished early I would listen to always said e Wheel was my e activities of these two pterodactyl one bone at a time. tales of his exploits. I was a true fraternity. men, spanning more than a It may still be on display. en business major and had no Woo had me working there idea about anything to do with the summer before my herpetology, but he liked to freshman year at KU, and my regale me with stories about last day was a er I graduated his more dangerous trips and my h year. To say I met how he escaped headhunters or some great folks along my just missed being attacked by ve-plus year run is an animals and a lot of other close understatement. calls. I miss Woo, but Knobbie has Now, 60 years later, I don’t been the perfect guy to pick up remember the details of the the torch and carry it to year stories but I remember 60. I can’t wait to send my little enjoying those interesting man Cole to work for Knobbie sessions with him. It was part in 13 years. of my KU education. Bravo, and RCJH. K. J. Laessig, b‘56 Dave Tacha, b’00 Los Angeles Denver Taylor 4 | KANSAS ALUMNI W in basement—then called Heavy obtained a lease on the our hearts for e Wagon Eddy’s—rst as a delivery premises.