Nickname (that you know of!): Jaye
Martial status: Married
Spouse's/Significant other's name: John Moretz
Home address: Pleasant Hill, CA Phone #: Cell phone #:
Your life since you left Clear Lake/year?: Moved to LA right after graduation in June of '63. Married Fred Pontious in August, enrolled in City College and worked in finance. Freddy Jr. born August '64, had to postpone college. Moved back to CL in '67, got divorced.
Married John at Tinker AFB in '68. The Air Force moved us around a lot while John went to various training schools. Ended up in England for 3 years, that was fun. Donovan born there in '71. John left the Air Force in '73. We were visiting family in CL on the way to settle in California when John's dad died unexpectedly. We stayed to help out and ended up sticking around for 3 years. John worked for Northern Natural Gas, I went to NIACC.
After graduation in '76 we headed west again. Settled in the San Francisco Bay Area, where I finally got my 4-year degree at UC Berkeley. Then I did some writing, and was offered a job with a small financial publisher. Spent 5 years as an editor and writer for them and then went freelance. There have been some interesting projects along the way: the World War II spy who wanted help with his memoirs, the woman with Multiple Personality Disorder who had 29 people inside her, the science fiction and horror publisher who got me nominated for a Small Press award.
As a sideline, our youngest boy and his friends needed help with their garage band. I ended up managing 3 or 4 rock bands over several years. That fizzled out the weekend before Don's band was about to break out nationwide when the girl singer broke up with the drummer, ran off with the lead guitar, and convinced the male singer to leave too so she wouldn't feel so guilty. Just like the movies.
I tried my hand at fiction and got a short story published and was asked to use the characters in a full-length book. So I am now working on a couple of novels, one historical mystery, one a paranormal romance. John has been working for the city water department long enough to be eligible for retirement. Our oldest, Fred, lives in Seattle and became a translator, is accredited in Japanese and German, and studying Finnish. He married a Japanese woman and they gave us one adorable grandson. Don is a computer network administrator and lives the other side of the bay, about 4 blocks from the Pacific. He and his girlfriend have started dropping comments about "if" or "when" they have a baby. We also have a Chinese foster daughter in Boston who has 2 amazing kids who call us Grandma and Grandpa. Oh, and we seem to be collecting large, fuzzy cats - one Maine Coon and one Norwegian Forest. Whew, and that's the short version!
Your memories of Clear Lake: Childhood: Running down the rows in my cousin's cornfield, lost in a stalky jungle. Coasting my first bike down the big hill on Main Street. Splashing around in the lake all summer, trying to swim out to the raft where the big kids hung out. Going to Corner Drug for a root beer at the counter, watching the high school kids take over all the booths and actually dance to the juke box, with the girls' big circle skirts and pony tails swinging out as they spun. That first visit to the Surf-Marcia Lunde's dad was the bouncer, and he took four of us giggling little girls there for Marcia's 10th birthday. Boy, did we think we were cool when we joined the line for the Bunny Hop.
Then we were the big kids, hanging out at the Barrel, cruising Federal, dropping in to visit with Bob Cody at the radio station. Remember the day the cattle broke out of the stockyards and came up to the high school? Or the Saturday night that group of delinquent girls rolled Mr. Donahue's VW Bug down the sidewalk and locked it in someone else's garage? (You know who you are, Jean, Bonnie, Katie, Barb, Smitty, Lois, did I leave anyone out?) And band, from Drum & Bugle through high school, that was the best. Road trips, parades, summer concerts in the park, football fields in fall, basketball courts in winter, while Mr. Wangberg and Mr. Logan tapped their batons, waved their arms, and exhorted us to always do a little better. Not a bad lesson for life, when you think about it.
Favorite song of 1963 or earlier to be used on your profile: 76 Trombones by Meredith Willson, from "The Music Man"
