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Jim McEnteer
Fred Thomas was a good friend of mine during our years at Kensington Elementary. He was shy and reserved in class, but outside of school his antic,satiriical sense of humor came out. We sometimes joked and fooled aorund on the way home from school, since he only lived a few blocks from me. Sometimes we would tease the much older boys who lived across the street from me, to get them to chase us. Scary fun! We spent many other afternoons drawing comic books together. He did his own and I did mine. The spokesman for his dry sense of humor was Herbert, a parrot who sat most often in a cage hanging above the main action, commenting on it. When Herbert became especially disgusted he would drop turds from his cage on the hapless bozos below. There was something of Froggy the Gremlin in Herbert, and something of Fred's Message Forum political taunts. Because both our fathers belonged to the Cleveland Athletic Club, we were permitted to go on Saturdays, when few members used the club. Fred and I would catch the bus on Beachcliff and ride downtown to swim. It was a little daunting for 10 and 11-year-old boys to swim naked at the gorgeous indoor pool, but that was the CAC rule and we got used to it. The steam room might also be a bit scary. One time Cleveland Browns star kicker Lou Groza came in, completely naked, a giant towering figure who dwarfed the two skinny kids we were and barely seemed to fit. Whoa! We'd eat burgers there and go bowling, and pinboys would set up the pins. Then we'd inevitably stop at the nearby Gene'sFun House to check out the kitschy gag gifts before perusing the posters of the latest attractions at the Roxy.
Fred and I had been in email contact recently after many decades, and I had hoped we would get together perhaps later in the summer. But that was not to be. Another sign from the gods not to put anything off, especially at our age.
Goodbye, Fred. Thanks for the good times and fond memories. It was lovely to know you..
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