About This Blog ~ This blog is about a series of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (GLBT) super-hero, sci-fi, fantasy adventure novels called Rainbow Arc of Fire. The main characters are imbued with extraordinary abilities. Their exploits are both varied and exciting, from a GLBT and a human perspective. You can follow Greg, Paul, Marina, Joan, William, and Joseph, as well as several others along the way, as they battle extraordinary foes or take on environmental threats all around the globe and even in outer space. You can access synopses of the ten books using the individual links on the upper, left-hand column.





The more recent posts are about events or issues that either are mentioned in one or more books in the series or at least influenced the writing of the series.










Sunday, June 10, 2012

Pat in San Leandro, Easter week, 1971

Pat is carrying his clothes back to the Mustang when we left.  The house just off to the left of the photograph is Jean and Lloyd's house. 

We stopped for lunch on the way back to Los Angeles.  Either driving to or from the Bay Area, we stopped at the gas station at the Madonna Inn.  Guys were coming back from the restroom laughing.  We discovered why.  The urinal was a large hole in the floor where anyone who had to go stood around and peed in communion with others.

I graduated in December of 1971, but Pat finished in June.  He had been saving his money from working part time at the post office for a trip to Europe.  When he got there, he bought a VM van and toured extensively.  Eventually, he got a job working the lighting for an Ice Capades show touring Europe.  He was able to stay several more months than he'd planned with the unexpected income.

I sent him letters with newspaper articles to keep him informed as to what was happening while he was gone.  When he returned, he applied as Dennis Madura, a friend from East LAJC, and I had in the summer of 1972, when the airlines began to hire men as flight attendants.  While neither Dennis nor I got hired by Continental Airlines or TWA, Pat was hired by TWA almost immediately. 

One of his letters to me after he'd finished training and begun working on their International routes was that he really loved his job since he could see even more of Europe than he already had.




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