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Christopher (Chris) Martin
Ever since I discovered this site (thanks Sally!) I have been thinking that I wanted to make a post to the class. I want to thank the parents of the Jewish kids for locating into that school district so that I had the opportunity, even the inspiration, of attending TJ with Jewish kids. Like most Gentile Southerners, I grew up with prejudice against the Jewish people. Most of that was thanks to my father, who was prejudiced against EVERYBODY, even fellow Protestants; I remember he was vehemently opposed to my sister (Class of 1960) dating (and later marrying) the son of Hi Willette, Richmond School Superintendent, because they were heathen Baptists! While attending TJ, I discovered that Jewish kids were, in general, superior to many of the Protestant kids; their academics set the standard and many of the girls were just plain beautiful! I not only lost my prejudice but I became an avid supporter of Israel and of the Jewish people, eventually knowing more about their history than many of them. I was a poor student at TJ, barely graduating, but because of the standards set by the Jewish kids, the teachers pushed all of us pretty hard. Thus, my College Boards of 1320 were nothing special in TJ but would be considered genius today, especially in the remarkably poor California school system. (But I did get a perfect score on my Graduate Records, so I was still pressing 5 years after TJ.) Long story, I apologize, but we are all getting to the age that we're dying off, and I wanted to get this said. Thank you Jewish classmates!
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