Skip Granger Remembers Two Teachers

Two of my favorite teachers at Wichita High School East were very different from each other.

I had great admiration for Bob Timmons. He was the pinnacle of perfection. I really enjoyed associating with him and serving as  his track and field manager. The only time he didn’t win it all was when he first came to East and could not beat his former team that first year. At the beginning of each year, he would run the high hurdles and set a mark for what he expected of his team. He was not much taller than the hurdles!

Conversely, Bill Foster was a perfectionist when it came to drama (and partying), and mixed business with pleasure while creating plays that far surpassed the norm for high school drama. His “King and I” was my first experience, and it blew my mind along with that of everyone else. He would take us riding in his new red Ford convertible with the retracting hard top, and he let me leave campus almost at will. Since my father managed a department store with lots of window trimmings and the like, we used Innes as a source of props. Bill Foster cast me act in his plays and also had me perform magic in front of the curtain while the sets were changed.

Which brings me to my story. During one ”All School Review,” some fellows were to push my card table forward as the curtain closed. The problem was that one of the legs buckled tossing my magic equipment into the footlights. As my rabbit was freed and ran across the stage, I took my pistol and shot blanks at it. My serious magic became a comedy show. Fortunately, the audience loved it, and the next day, people said that it was my best show ever!

Bill held an annual awards dinner at the Petroleum Club, and I received a very handsome statue, which I have to this day. I was quite concerned when I learned later that Bill had been murdered in Texas.

We had so many great teachers, but some just stand out and stay in your mind. RIP, my friends and people who helped make me who I am.