This is Google’s cache of http://royerood.spaces.live.com/default.aspx. It is a snapshot of the page as it appeared on Mar 28, 2011 14:11:34 GMT. The current page could have changed in the meantime. Learn more Text-only version These search terms are highlighted: roy and elizabeth rood Windows LiveWindows Live™ Hotmail Messenger Office Photos MSN Sign in ProfileRoy and Elizabeth’s Home…PhotosBlogListsMore Tools Help Roy and Elizabeth’s Home Page FOR A PHOTO ALBUM YOU MIGHT ENJOY CLICK ON Photos above, Ben Lippen, Melbourne, Kadikoy, etc. To save a photo on your machine, simply click on the photo, then right click and choose “Save Picture” and then choose the file you want. royerood@verizon.net Blog list My Friend Vehbi Bey is Gone The Va Tech Murders and Misyoner A Soldier Has Fallen Save and Copy Photos Turkiye Trip 2005 Yandim Yar by Necla Akben My Life So Far 0107 Vehbi Bey, My Friend, is Gone Kadikoy Maarif To view faster, move indicator. To save a photo, right click, and hit Save Picture_ Photo 1 of 107 More albums (1) Kadikoy Maarif To view faster, move indicator. To save a photo, right click, and hit Save Picture_ (107) November, 2006 Guestbook Thanks for visiting! Book list Ataturk by Lord Kinross there will not be another Atarurk Henry and Clare by Ralph G. Martin both rich but unhappy One Against Many by Frank Weaner a great Florida businessman Ronald Reagan by Dinesh DSousa “Mr. Gorbachev this meeting is over” The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand the best work on individualism Warren Buffet he really does his homework Witness by Whittaker Chambers a former communist beats the media Blog March, 2008 My Friend Vehbi Bey is Gone Derya, thank you so much for writing me of the passing of Vehbi Bey My Good Memories of Vehbi Guney I hope I have not made very many mistakes in recalling the followiing memories. Please forgive me if I have made errors. I have several good memories of Vehbi Bey I wish I could remember when I first met him and what we talkied about together, but I can’t remember that. I believe he told me that he was the first student from Rize to enter the Teachers College in Istanbul, and of course he was proud of that. I wish I could have met him then.And of course he loved Ataturk and talked about him a lot. Several times he reminded me, “Mr. Rood, do not be too friendly with our Turkish students. They will not understand. Yes, in your country, it is normal for teachers to be more friendly, but here in Turkiye they will not understand.” He was right of course, and because I was too friendly at times, I did not get the same respect as the Turkish teachers. (Of course too, I was very young). I remember too that the Anne-Baba Association wanted us to stay a third year, but Vehbi Bey and I could not agree. I asked if he could dismiss from the school a few of the troublemakers(yaramazlar), after warning them of course, but he explained that he couldn’t do that, and I understood. At that point I decided not to stay for a third year and I believe it was best for us and the school too. I do remember his coming to our house to present Deborah Zeynep with the gold coin that the Turkish teachers and employees had sent. As you know, they made very little money, so this was a big thing for those friends. I hope we thanked them enough. I wish I could go to each of them now and thank them, Zehra, Halil, Nuri, Nevber, Lorene, Joan, Ilhan, Teoman, Orhan, Ismet, Nezahat, Nuriye, Fahri, Emir, Cemal, Melek, Nedime, Mehmet (wasnt he such a good natured man), Vedia, Hikmet Gunsel, Remziye, Remzi Tuna, Ali Yalcin, Burhan, Cihat, Ali Alacam, Naciye, Muammer, Gungor, Ascibasi Faik, Teknisyen Hasan . Many of them are gone now but their good memories are still with us. They were MUTEVAZi. He also came to our house several times and he and some Turkish friends sang several folk songs, aman, aman , etc and he enjoyed himself so much. He was very kind to my children, Deborah and Daniel. I last saw him in 96 I believe, and he was very discouraged. Not only had he lost Mesture Hanim, but he had also lost a son, the one who died in Rize (his hometown). He said he did not understand why God was leaving him here, so I tried to encourage him that his tutoring of his grandchild there in Yalova was a worthwhile endeavor and she appreciated him. Bildiginz gibi, Hamdolsun he was not at the Fatih Apartment when the earthquake hit Yalova. That was a miracle of course. As you kniow, he and Mesture Hanim and the children lived in a very small house there on the school property, but he was not too proud to invite us to his house for cay several times. Elizabeth and Nurtan became very good friends then. We later visited her and her family at the Cicek Evi in Yalova. He was so proud of his grandchildren there. Attached is part of a letter he wrote me in 78. Because of the inflation of that time, he had to start working again, so he taught some classes in Kadikoy and also on the other side of the Bosphorus, so at that time it was very difficult for him to find time to write us. I remember that he used the word NEVER a lot, but right now I cant remember any instances of it, but I remember that he would say, ” I NEVER…” when talking about the school sysstem or the government, and he was very emphatic when he used it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could remember one of those sentences. I was not able to see him in 2005, and I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN HIM ONE MORE TIME BEFORE HE DIED. I MISS HIM. vehbi bey royVehbi Bey teaching sVehbi Liz at Kartal love roy and elizabeth rood 5:32:59 PM | Read comments (5) | Permalink May, 2007 The Va Tech Murders and Misyoner One of my Turkish Friends wrote “Please tell your Friends to not send missionaries to Turkiye. ,. I answer by stating that because we are good friends, we can disagree agreeably, (biz anlasmayabiliriz. Ne yapalayiz? Kolaydir. As you know Jesus said, “go into all the world and make disciples”, so we as Christians have to go. We dont have a CHOICE. Mecburiyet. But we do have a choice on how we react to the situation. Mesela, last week 2 Christian Turks and one missionary were killed. This is nothing new. Jesus said it would happen and everyone knows it will happen from time to time, and the churches who send out missionaries know it will happen once in awhile or maybe every day for awhile. or every day until Jesus returns. And of course Moslem missionaries have been killed too, In the crusades, ignorant “christians” (remember “christians” in quotation marks in this case means that they were not true christians). killed Moslems, thinking they were doing the will of God. So missionaries of every religion have been killed and will continue to be killed; this is nothing new and is to be expected. Yes, we are sorry that it divides the Turkish people for missionaries to come there and try to make converts. (It doesnt bother the secularists (bagimsizlik), but of course it bothers the “believers”). But does it bother the TRUE believers? No, because the TRUE BELIEVER (Turk or American) WANTS PEOPLE TO SEEK GOD NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE. Now why all the killing? Two reasons: 1) some killers are motivated by EVIL and 2) some killers are just ignorant. If there was NO RELIGION in the world there would still be some killings. Why? Because EVIL is rampant in people and in the world. Let’s take number 2) first. Some Killers are just ignorant. Those young people that killed those Turks last week were probably just ignorant. They probably were not evil. They were probably just ignorant of God’s ways, that is, they probably thought they were killing those people for Turkiye and for God. As you know Pavlos (Incilde) killed many Christians thinking that he was doing God’s will. He was not Evil; he was simply ignorant of God’s ways. And of course, since his heart was right before God, God finally showed him his error. Also as you know, when Stephen prayed for his killers, he prayed, “Ya Rab, onlara bu gunahi yukleme” (Acts Bap7), so Stephen realized that they were simply ignorant of God’s will. Of course it’s awful for the wives and children but they knew about the possibility of death when they became Christians. Every person in the middle east has to face that decision and it’s a hard one. Now let’s take number 1) Some killers are EVIL. As you know I graduated from Virginia Tech, so of course Im saddened about the murdered kids. Was Cho ignorant? Only God knows, but the evidence seems to be that he was EVIL. He was filled with HATE, and hate is EVIL; hate is from Satan. He said he was doing it for his children, but if so, why did he have to hate? As you can see from the videos and the his writings, it seems to be HATE. Example, I disagree with the socialists of the world, because they want to take my money and give it to someone else, and this is wrong according to the commandment Calmiyacaksin (thou shalt not steal). But as far as I know my heart and mind; I do not HATE the socialists. Yes I thoroughly disagree with them, and I think I could kill them if they tried to take over America by force, but I dont think I HATE them. What about Michael Moore who is so adamant against George Bush. Bilmiyorum, yalniz Allah bilir, but it seems to me that its HATE. What about Joe Biden, a Senator. Yes, he is adamant against George Bush too, but it doesn’t appear to be HATE. He seems like he is actally interested in truth (Only God knows of course). Do I believe I could kill another person WITHOUT HATE. I think so. . Mesela, if I had been in that classroom and had a gun, I think I could have killed Cho WITHOUT hating him..The psychologists believe that babies are born good, and only society is turning them into evil people. I dont believe that. I believe that all people are born as sinners and unless they are saved, they can easily become EVIL. I believe that many of our rap and metal singers have crossed the line and are now HATERS. They were once ignorant, but when they turned their backs on God, they became haters. I am very pessimistic about the future of America, and my hope is that many of our young people will soon turn their minds away from the awful music and the HATE that goes with it. Why do they have to say mf mf…mf and push that homo lifestyle on us? Yes some of it is ignorance, but Im afraid much of it is HATE. Thus, I am not disturbed about the divisions of people in Turkiye as you are. There have always been only three groups of people in the world; the believers, the atheists, and the agnostics (those who are not sure). Turks must learn to live with missionaries and Turkish Christians who disagree with them agreeably. And if the Turks cannot do this, then they will just have to kill the missionaries because those missionaries are “going into all the world” just as Jesus told them to do. Remember death is not the worst thing in the world. Living in torture is worse. (I guess my students at Maarif didnt kill me because I either did not preach about Jesus, or the students were kind enough to tolerate me ) And I am not disturbed about the divisions of people in America. The atheists in America will have to learn to live with the Christians who disagree with them agreeably, or they will have to kill the Christians and preachers, because those preachers are “going into all the world (American cities}” just as Jesus told them to do. Liberals and liberal psychologists are always screaming for people to UNITE, “please unite; let’s be one America” they say. But Jesus did not say that. He said he came to DIVIDE. Thus, it has always been true that wherever Christians have gone, they have DIVIDED people. Why? Because EVIL and dogruluk do not mix. And where true Moslem believers (not dinci but inananlar) have gone, they always cause DIVISION because EVIL and RIGHTEOUSNESS do not mix. Christians and Moslems and all true believers will always be causing DIVISION, and Turkiye and America will have to learn to disagree with them agreeably, or they can kill them. Is this bad for a country? NOT AT ALL. Divisions are certainly better than the status quo (EVIL). Anything is better than EVIL unopposed. And dont be sorry that we disagree on this. It’s good for us to be able to disagree agreeably; 90% of the people in the world cannot disagree agreeably. Hell (for emphasis) I dont even agree with Elizabeth on everything!!!!!!!!!, but we still love each other. Now on divisions, do you agree that Turkish Sunnis and Shias NEED to learn to disagree agareeably?. Do you agree that the Turkish TV programs should be preaching that both groups should be serving God together, because after all THEY BOTH SERVE THE SAME GOD? And now more on divisions, I agree that Methodists and Baptists here in America should be on the TV stating clearly that both Groups ARE SERVING THE SAME GOD AND they should be able to disagree with one another agreeably. What about those religionists WORLDWIDE WHO CANNOT DISAGREE AGREEABLY. Well some are 1) ignorant (they believe they are doing God’s will). OK we can pray for these. But some are 2) EVIL and yes we can pray for them, but when they break the law and kill others, they must themselves be killed. (Im sorry that Turkye no longer has the death penalty (simply so they can please the awful European Common Market). When the govt neglects to give death to people who HATE, then hate will continue to proliferate (see what the lack of a death penalty has done for America). . The bible says “paradoken” God GAVE THEM UP, and I believe there comes a time when the govt has to give them up too, and that time is when the killers HATE. So we disagree agreeably. Let the missionaries come to Turkiye and let the Turks have a choice. If they choose to kill the missionaries, that will be nothing new. Let the Moslem missionaries come to America and if America cannot disagree with them agreeably, then America has a problem. Of course the governments can always go back to refusing to grant visas, and that’s a choice the people can make. Also, I do not believe the rumors that these missionaries are sent out by the CIA. I dont think so. No missionary in his right mind is going to go to Turkiye for the CIA knowing that he could be killed. But if there are CIA people posing as missionaries, I hope that the ABD govt will learn about them and BRING THEM HOME FAST AND PUNISH THEM. And if this is happening, I hope the Turkish Intelligence will be able to intercept messages on tape or in writing and thereby SEND THEM BACK TO AMERICA. But I personally know some of the missionaries in Turkiye, and I do not believe they are connected with the CIA, and I believe that they want to be as far away from the CIA as possible. 10:36:47 PM | Permalink January, 2007 My Life So Far 0107 MY LIFE SO FAR 0107 I hope I’m not being arrogant in thinking that anyone would want to read about my life. It’s just that I’m contacting a lot of old students and friends right now (I’m enjoying living in the past), and since I’m asking you to write me about what you have been doing, I want to have something on file that I can simply attach to an email and thus I don’t have to repeat things so often. If you get bored, just take what you can enjoy and toss the rest. If you are over 60, there are some things in here that you can remember. I’ll have to admit it; I’ve had a pretty easy life. Being raised in Huntington WV and Proctorville OH in the Nazarene Church probably kept me very naïve which in a way was a good thing. We were weren’t well off, and even though it has its irritations, it also has its advantages. I remember collecting pig iron from the alley in a wagon (I believe it may have come with the slag from the steel mills in Ashland) and taking it to Guyandotte and selling it. I believe I also collected newspapers (WWII). I don’t believe Dick Newman collected pig iron with me, but I do remember us playing under Mrs. Rose’s huge Black Cherry tree. The first school I attended was Emmons Elementary. I went back and visited my 1st grade teacher, Rosa Henderson, and because I can read, I asked her if she taught me phonics. She said at about that time the school board was pushing the “look and guess” method, but she taught us phonics anyway. I thanked her because even though I am not so hot on some things, I CAN read. I just found an old writeup on Miss Freeman. I believe she gave me my first paddling. I believe it was because I threw a snow ball at Mary Rose Hodges and hit her in the very arm she had a cast on (my luck). My wife Elizabeth said why did you throw it and I said I was probably trying to get her attention. After all, on my sailor hat (a real one given to me by dad), I had written RER loves MRH. Geez what a nerd I was. I do remember getting picked on every afternoon by Bobby Richardson on the way home. Why didn’t I fight? Well, mainly because he was bigger than I was, but also Nazarene kids were taught not to fight. I remember playing with Richard Newman at home and playing football with Orlin Callicoat, John Snyder, Gary Black, Walter Bragg, Carl White, Morty Cartmill, et. al. on the playground. It never occurred to us that we could get an arm or leg broken. I’m substituting in the public schools here, and I’m so glad we didn’t go to schools like these in Tampa (it’s not a student problem of course; IT’S A PARENT PROBLEM). I calculated the Miss Freeman writeup to be about 1954 and she said THEN “the teachers of today are too lenient”, obviously comparing them with her 53 years in the system. What if she visited the schools now? During WWII dad was moved to the Ottumwa Iowa Air Station. There I attended Garfield elementary. You’ve seen this on TV, but it actually happened to me. One morning a teacher mentioned that someone had set someone’s broken arm by simply pulling on it. That afternoon a student and I were wrestling when he threw me over and my arm was immediately took a right angle break. This kid pulled hard on my arm of all things, and another kid helped me hold it straight as I walked one-half mile home. The base doctor took an xray, pronounced that the compound fracture was set perfectly, and sent me home with a cast. Ive still got a paper I wrote at Garfield in which I wrote “From Casablanca to Okinawa American men died to bring the fist of airpower , long though its arm may be, within reach of our enemies”, Obviously that is straight out of the encyclopedia. But a little later I wrote this one, and it shows that I was obviously headed for great things. “Americans like to fly in airplanes because it saves them so much time”. Yea. Could any of you have come up with something that brilliant in the fourth grade? Geez. That soapbox derby picture is a fluke. The Herald-Dispatch got it wrong. They said I was the winner, but I actually came in second. Too bad that the winner did such a good job and didn’t get his picture in the paper. I went to Enslow for only a few weeks and we moved to Altizer so of course we had to get up every morning while it was still dark and get the bus to Barboursville Junior High. Because of the gawdawful schedules, we had to wait at that corner drug store for an hour. The kool guys sat in the booths and enjoyed the girls, while I watched them play the pinball machines I couldn’t put in a nickel because as my father explained “it’s gambling”. (I sorta wish he had let me play then; because maybe I could have learned to lose a little then rather than lose so much in the stock market later). Good news. About three years ago I finally bought me a 1976 pin-ball machine similar to the ones at Barboursville; it has the bumpers and the pop-up numbers. I remember the most popular song in those days was GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY; I sure prefer that over Britany Spears, KISS, and all the trash on MTV now. I was glad to see America finally stand up and react to Justin and Janet’s show at the 2004 Super Bowl. It was mighty late in coming, but …… Yes, I did see the Ray Charles movie but was disappointed. Yes they showed that he got off heroin, but they didn’t show any of the successes of his last 25 years where he thrilled many audiences with “Oh Beautiful..Thank You Jesus. ..”Etc. At Barboursville I was most impressed in sports by our basketball team; those guys had a fast break almost as good as the one at Marshall College. I think Buzzy Carter was the middle man on the fast break and I think it was Nottingham on the right and maybe Bill Call or Ernie on the right. Gary Wolfe shot the long one handers Bob Cousy style. I remembered Bill Curry at guard and he helped me to remember Ernie Smith at forward. Those guys went all the way to the WVA state tournament. Mr. Russell was so good at those underhand foul shots. I don’t think I’ve seen one for awhile. I still have a dream once/year that I’m in that old gym, and it’s about to fall off the hill. Wasn’t that funny; we had to play handball down in those catacombs on the days when the girls had the gym. I’m sure it wasn’t much for the in-crow,but for a Nazarene youth, the 9th grade party was a big deal. I still don’t know how Dad let me go to that “dance”. Did he find out beforehand that it would be the Virginia Reel and “Down By The Old Mill Stream”? Well I’m glad he did because I had a good time. I probably thought that swinging those girls was the greatest ever. I enjoyed talking on the phone the other day with Miss Copenhaver(math, I believe). Why did Mr. Berisford give me those Good Citizenship awards? Did he feel sorry that I didn’t play sports? I WAS in Mrs. Ray’s glee club if that counts. My best friends there were Jack Bazemore and Joe Self and Larry Legg, and we were even good friends at Marshall. That early morning shop with Mr. McNeer was so cold but the soldering helped to warm it a bit. My girl friends were Georgia, Frances, Sherry, and Sheila but of course THEY DIDN’T KNOW IT. Ha Ha. Johnny Ray says that he and I rode our bicycles all the way from Altizer to wherever (Crossroads?) and got Georgia and Frances and rode to a park somewhere. I don’t remember that, and I accused him of making it up, but I bet his memory is better than mine, ha ha. But at least that shows that we were interested in girls at that age. Im so glad I was interested in girls instead of boys. (the first time a man made a pass at me in Philadelphia I didn’t know what was happening. I cant believe I went to a church four times on Sunday and once in the middle of the week and I don’t remember anyone ever explaining Romans 1 to me. Or worse yet, you mean I was 18-20 years old and had never read it myself? OH PLEASE!). (I’m so sorry we lost Sherry so early. My dad wouldn’t let me dance, but at Marshall they required us to do a little in Orientation; Sherry tried to help me). I wish I had learned to dance a little bit, because Liz enjoys dancing so much and she wants me to dance with her. I prefer her to clog to bluegrass for me and she can do that very well, although she is real good at the 50s dances too. In 1950 my parents moved to Proctorville where I attended Fairland High. I will never forget getting on the bus the first week and the girls sang Sana, Sana, Sana but also hymns, Amazing Grace, etc. Adele Thornton thinks she remembers them singing Do Lord Oh Do Lord, Oh Do Remember Me. I believe it was mainly the Watts girls, Glenna Heinz, Adele, and maybe Roseanne Duncan, et. al. (I welcome all of you to call or email me and make corrections and additions). It is such a good memory to remember the singing in those buses and how different bus rides for the kids are today. We had it so good. The meals (my favorite was grilled cheese and tomato soup) were a quarter. I’m proud that I scored the highest in our school on the county chemistry exam, and I believe that may be the reason I still love chemistry. (Mother and I still have our Chemistry Report Cards). Why did Miss Bragg give me a B+ for the year when I had 4 A’s and 2 B’s. (Oh Roy Get Over It!!!) I am ashamed that I gave Miss Bragg a hard time and she had to give me noon detentions so much. I can’t believe I did that. Also being a smart alec, for the Senior Wills, I had to will my “enjoyable noon hours with Miss Bragg to Frank Stephens”. Why did I have to be so tacky? Otherwise I didn’t cause much trouble. Mrs. Curtis was one of the best English teachers ever. I can still diagram sentences; these kids today have no idea where the object is. Mr. Wilgus made history so much alive, and even though I knew Dottie’s boyfriend was in the navy, I played like she was my girlfriend, simply because she talked to me once in awhile. (Remember that was an big thing; I was from the other side of the tracks and she was from a well to do family, but to her credit and the Gillett family’s credit, she was not stuck up). Dad wouldn’t let me play sports because if I played I would sometimes have to miss revival services, but thanks to Mom’s pleading we were able to play in Mrs. Holderby’s first band. I credit Mrs. Church’s math classes for my success in calculus later on. Charles Freeman, our top basketball player, was a great part of my life at Fairland. We played ping pong many. Many noon hours during noon hours, and he beat me almost every time with his triumphant attitude. He remembers us going to his grandfathers barber shop, one of the first in Proctorville. I wish I could remember that. I only attended Marshall one year but was able to witness the first Marshall game that was ever on TV. They beat Ohio U in the last few minutes 9-7 with only 19 guys on the team. I wish I knew the name of the guy who saved a sure Ohio U. touchdown in the last few minutes with a shoestring tackle. Sonmeone has since told me that Gunter is the player that kicked then winning field goal. Mrs. Bragonier had to give me the logarithm test (a requirement) three times. I was on the first Marshall debate team, and that was my first intro to free trade. I was not able to debate the negative well, and to this day I’m a free trader all the way and our wages have to come down; in fact, outsourcing is the only way our wages are going to come down. We’ve already lost millions because of our high salaries. (Few employees are worth $50/hour). I liked Dr. Urian a lot and did well in his engineering drawing class. Dr. McCaskey was fun too (and good). Because Dad knew some engineers at South Point, I was able to work there every 3 months as a co-op student and attend VPI (now Va. Tech) on alternate quarters. No one believes of course that we were able to attend that fine engineering school for $1000/year (room, board, tuition, and all). That’s where I first saw college wrestling and I love it to this day. I didn’t see much football there; even teams like Villanova beat us regularly. VPI is where I first attended InterVarsity meetings and where I first got into real Bible study. It was a great group of guys who have really done things in their lives’ and I keep up with some of them even today. My roommate there, Clay Johnston, tried to get me to keep my room better: “Rood, when are you going to clean your side of the room”. (Liz doesn’t ask. She just does it and complains to the Lord later). Somewhere in here I began watching Flatt and Scruggs on Thurs nites when they came to Huntington in their bus. I have since learned that that was one of the first bluegrass bands ever to have a weekly TV show (about 55-56). I enjoy bluegrass now, especially “Get Down on Your Knees and Pray”, more than ever. I cant stand the Bill Gaither stuff; maybe it’s because I was in a quartet in high school and college and I don’t believe it helped my Christian life any. On my application to grad school at the University of Florida, one question was. “Why do you want to attend this university?” I wrote, “Because it’s warmer down there”. Yea. I first saw Tallahassee from a Greyhound bus and I thought (and still do) the live oaks with the Spanish moss was one of the prettiest scenes I had ever seen. I didn’t do well on my masters degree and I don’t know exactly why (the coursework seemed so hard compared to the undergrad work I had had), but the big thing was that I did my thesis under Dr. A. J. Teller, a former Manhattan Project engineer. I didn’t appreciate completely what I learned from him then, but much of it has stuck with me on every job I’ve had. He loved what he was doing and stayed with it every night til Sherry came and dragged him home. He went on to build 300+ chemical plants and obtain 105 patents. My favorite song there was, “It’s All In the Game”, but I didn’t find a wife there even though I did date the President’s daughter once(a tri-Delt, Yea). Richard Cushman took me on my first alligator hunt (HE grabbed them) and later to swim in my first Florida spring. I’ve loved Florida ever since. Who wouldn’t? I still love the Spanish Moss, and the Ibus’ and Blue Herons are my favorite birds. One summer I worked for Dr. Bennett extracting wax from Spanish Moss. At about that time I began having questions on the authenticity of the Bible and more importantly questions on the gospel. so since I had $250 left I decided to attend Columbia Bible College and get some answers, a very good move. In the registration line, I met Elizabeth and liked her immediately. Because it was a very strict school, the opportunities for dating were very limited. I invited her to play ping pong a few times, and although I liked her a lot, she didn’t care for me that much, so it was over in about 3 weeks. I did well in the courses there, and I credit those professors and staff people with teaching the Bible well and more importantly “fleshing it out”. Liz and I tried it again the next fall, and again she had had all of me she could take in about a month. George Hutchinson remembers my one long one-handed shot in the championship game with the juniors: with one second left in the half, I threw a swisher from one end to the other. Yes I did get some answers to my questions, but like everyone who had studied before me, I quickly learned that my original questions were minor. Example:If one is going to believe the fact that one man (Jesus Christ) by his sacrifice paid for the sins of the whole world, quite a stretch, then one can accept almost all the other questions in the Bible. Toward the end of my 2nd year, Mr. Hatch asked me if I might be interested in teaching science at Ben Lippen School in Asheville. (I was interested in education because at VPI, I was very impressed with Dr. Fred Bull, a master teacher, and had even taken an elective course in education. What a pitiful course, as were most education courses in those days. I can only remember that the first public school was in 1843 Big Deal. At Ben Lippen I taught Chemistry and Physics and didn’t coach but went out on the field with the junior boys soccer team. Although I enjoyed the classes, I was too negative compared to the way I am now, so I’ve had to apologize to those kids and of course they write and say that I wasn’t negative at all, and that makes it nice. One of those Ben Lippen students is now Provost at Notre Dame University, one of the highest positions in education in the land (his parents were the best and the humblest people ever). I will never forget Dr. Fortosis and his wife and his love for God and the students. Paul Morrison recently reminded me that since he was the music censor on campus, he had to censor one of my Flatt and Scruggs records. It had to be “The Cabin on the Hill” because that’s the only one I owned. During the 2nd year, Elizabeth and I tried it (dating)again, and this time she decided she could stand me. Yea. Besides salvation of course, she was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I had decided to do something else by then so we honeymooned in Maryland and I attended a summer NSF session at American U. in Wash D. C. While there I learned the Kaufman Principle from our landlord when he fixed the fan after I thought it was broke. He said, “YOUNG PEOPLE REMEMBER, MOST OF THE TIME THINGS ARE SIMPLE”. That rule has saved me hundreds of dollars. It was on a bulletin board there that I saw the job opening at Melbourne High School, so were soon on our way – in a 1958 Volkswagon. Geez. At Melbourne High I was able to teach in Dr. Brown’s well-known “Non-Graded” school, a first at the time. There I met the Dept. Head, Jerry Einem and witnessed his teaching and a few of his students who regularly won the National Science Fairs. I did something there that I would not do again. Just as I had done at Ben Lippen, I started each class with a prayer. Dr. Brown soon had to remind me that Madelyn Murray Ohair had succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to remove prayers from the schools, so I stopped of course. I’ve since decided that the court was right, because although I do not accept the concept of public schools (it’s stealing from one taxpayer and giving to another), I believe that since they exist, tax money should not be used to support doctrine – maybe released time is OK. I still remember Mrs. Pickens teaching us Psalm 1 in the 4th grade, but it was RELEASED TIME and parents could request their students out of there. But at Mel High I had a captive audience; they couldn’t opt out. During my 2nd year there Daniel was born, and I saw a job announcement for teachers to teach in Turkiye. I applied for a Fulbright grant and was accepted. I don’t know this to be a fact, but since there were 15 applicants for each position winner, I credit Dr.Teller and my Masters degree for that appointment. Landing in Istanbul in 1965 was an unbelievable experience for two Southern kids who had never even been to New York City before. Our first week was a week of Turkish lessons. I will never forget that teacher coming in the door and saying. “Tanishtuh-uh-muhz-uh Memnun Oldum”. I still have one of my schedules showing that I taught 300 students (6 different preparations) a week in high school chemistry and 6th grade science. I taught at Kadikoy Maarif Koleji, a school for Turks who aspired to study university abroad. The students (who are now in their 40s-50s) remember me as being quite naïve but sincere. I have not kept up with many of them, but the ones I have written are very complimentary even if I did make mistakes. Many of those students have made successful careers in business and government, and the ones who have written me have been thankful for the education they received there. One of them Turgay Ozkan became President of the Turkish Export-Import bank and he has had a remarkable career with the IMF. Many of the other graduates are entrepreneurs all over Turkiye. Sevki Kayabay has his own diesel engine manufacturing plant, and several others own tourist related businesses. Derya Kaptan, my favorite entrepreneur has done a lot in his ceramic factory and as a builder has built some expensive homes near the Black Sea. Liz and I of course know that we are the ones who profited more than the Turks. We were made more aware of a whole world of people who are yearning for the same things we want in life. Even though our state dept has made colossal mistakes with Turkiye, the Turks are very forgiving and are still probably the most hospitable people toward us in the Middle East. I have visited my Principal, Vehbi Guney, twice but I wish I could have visited him more. Deborah was born there and her middle name is Zeynep because she was born in Zeynep-Kamil Hastahane, a Turkish hospital. She cost us $7.50 (that’s right, seven and one-half dollars). (I’m not for socialized medicine, but that was a good deal!) (Daniel cost $4000 in Melbourne). The big thing I learned in Turkiye was that you can forget the first university course you had in education, (i. e. Education 101). Most of the rest of it is not necessary either. Here’s the biggie in education. In Turkiye if you have a PTA meeting, all 45 sets of parents are there asking “How is Ahmet doing in your class?” When you answer, “He’s not doing very well; he’s playing around some”, they say, “Don’t worry” (as they show physically what they will be doing to Ahmet) “Don’t worry, we will take care of him.” “VAh Vah, daha iyi olocak”. Well it used to be that way here 50 years ago, but what’s it like now? You have a PTA meeting or an open house here, and 1-2 parents (out of 30) come and those one or two say, “My son is having trouble in your class; WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU”. Do you see the difference? Forget all that Ed. 101 stuff, forget all that “more money for education” stuff; it’s so simple: IF YOU HAVE PARENTS, YOU HAVE EDUCATION. IF YOU DON’T HAVE PARENTS. FORGET IT. You can spend $20,000/student and nothing will happen. Yes my parents went to PTA meetings, but that’s not what they did for me. They gave us love and discipline and a place to do our homework. Yes I blame the principals and teachers today for not standing up for strong discipline, but at the same time I know that if they did, THE PARENTS WOULD COME SCREAMING TO THE SCHOOLS AND THE SCHOOL BOARDS. Just like the lawyers are not the problem with frivious lawsuits (it’s the plaintiffs), the teahers and principals are not fully to blame for the lousy schools. IT’S MAINLY THE PARENTS. Every August in the line at Walmart, one is reminded that the schools today are simply babysitters, and the ladies in line can hardly wait for school to start. As the result of knowing Derya at Kadikoy, we have had some Turkish students staying in our home here in Tampa, while going to school to learn English. Several have become Christians. Several of you know my wife and can laugh at this one. I say, “Liz did you put any pressure on them to accept the Lord” and she says, “No, I just told them if they didn’t accept the Lord they would have to go back to Istanbul immediagtely.” Ha Ha. (Not true of course). They are now back in Turkiye in business careers and other pursuits. As the Fulbright grant was only for 2 years, we returned to Melbourne High and taught there for 3 more years. As the result of being in that Turkish school, I was not able to put up with the foolishness that had crept into education while I was gone. Mr. Gillespie was kind; he said, “Roy you aren’t really with us all the way here. Do you want to stay one more year on probation. I thought about it, but realized he was right about me. I really had become too strict while I was in Istanbul. At that point Bill Bryan, the principal of Bartow High, hired me to teach Chemistry and Physics and be Head of the Science Dept. Liz made the “mistake” of letting some black kids jump in the wading pool in our back yard, so of course there was a cross burning in our yard that night. I’m almost sure those KKK guys would not do that now, but those were different times and Lake Wales (nearby) was the headquarters of the KKK. I liked Bartow High but I made a big mistake. Silly me, I had it made with Chemistry and Physics, but I had to be a hero and volunteer for a Physical Science class. As you know, in most schools Physical Science is the science class one takes to make an easy grade for the required science credit. Silly me, I thought I could get those kids to enjoy science. How naïve. I did not know then about the old rule, “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED”. Bill said, “I don’t know why I’m doing this but I’m asking you to resign, and I know you will either accept it as the Lord’s will or you will take your case all the way to Tallahassee”. I replied, “Bill of course you know what I’ll do”, so I quit and went back to Ben Lippen for 3 more years. But even there I had come to the place where I could not take much foolishness, so I told Jack I thought I needed to move on. Our two kids did well in Asheville and all of us have good memories of our time there at Ben Lippen. Liz did her first English tutoring there. At this point Liz’s mother asked us to come to Arkansas and do something with her farm. I threw myself into farmwork, clearing land, bailing hay, etc, but it was soon clear that I was not going to make Monette any money on that farm. About this time, Calvin Howe hired me to help with his chain of motels. What a guy! To this day we love him and Lois so much. They are classy people in the correct sense of the word. From Calvin, I learned the Howe Principle: MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN FIX IT YOURSELF; THE ONE TIME YOU CAN’T FIX IT, SOMEONE ELSE CAN. That rule has saved me hundreds more dollars. My family has suffered through used cars forever, and although they disagreed with the policy, I saved thousands, utilizing the Howe Principle. My most recent new-old car is my 87 Camry station wagon ($700). I love that 2000 engine and I get 30 mpg. Those Japanese engineers must have been inspired. Would I have bought it if Daniel had not recently bought us a new Hyundai (probably not). After a few months with Calvin, I applied for a chemist job and my ENSCO career began. ENSCO(not Enron) was a little company owned by Melvyn Bell and Charlie Robertson and no one will ever believe their story(I hope it gets written some day). They were sorta “kicked out” of Minn and so they bought an old Amoco refinery in El Dorado Arkansas, with the hope of burning hazardous waste in it. They once picked me up at the airport and said, “Roy, if you stay with us, we are going to be Number One in this business”. I thought to myself, “I don’t think so”. . Well it is true that they sometimes had to ask us not to cash our checks until Wednesday, but they DID BECOME NO. 1 IN THE PCB BURNING BUSINESS. It just shows what guys with determination can do in a free-enterprise society. I learned more from Dr. George Combs there than from anyone else in the chemical industry. One day I asked, “George why do you walk so fast up this hill every time?” to which he replied, “Well Roy, as you know, on the farm, we had to get up every morning at 4 to milk the cows, and if I was going to get to school on time I had to move fast”. I learned that lesson well at ENSCO. Also, from George, I learned the rule of persistence again. On the most important EPA permit application, he had Helen and I up to 2AM several “nites” making sure that everything was right. I specifically remember his having me to order the aerial drawings from 2-3 different sources. I probably ought to call that the COMBS PRINCIPLE., yes, the Comb’s Principle: ON SOMETHING IMPORTANT, DOT EVERY I AND SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO SEE IF THEY AGREE. Those people: Bill Schmidt, Gary Hodges, Bob Beer, Helene Rainwater, Ron Drye, David Harsh, Steve Hardin, Ted Claunch, Charlie, Melvyn, George … those people really contributed to my life and made it fun too. While in Arkansas, I had a great time running for public office. Why did I run? I first ran for school board because the little town was being run by several of the elite, and any question at all about the school system was met with the attitude of “who are you to be questioning us”. I ran with the main proposition that the Superintendent of Schools and the President of the School Board should resign or be fired. That went over real big of course. After getting beat for school board several times, I ran for State Rep and the U. S. Congress. Why did I do that? Because no other Republicans wanted to run because it was a Democrat controlled area all the way from West Helena to Texarkana and they knew they’d get beat. Knowing me, you know that that was exactly the challenge I needed. My bumper sticker one year said. “BERYL, $120.000 IS TOO MUCH. But good news. After getting beat in 1990 by 73-27 and almost beating him in his own home county, I said to my lawyer, “Jay, if I, as negative as I am, could get 27% of the vote, I bet you could run and win”. He did and he won. Yea. I tell people that I am like Abraham Lincoln in that I ran for office 11 times. Of course, that’s where the similarity ends; Lincoln WON two of his races. Were these races ego trips for me; I don’t think so but it’s hard to be sure; (pride and ego can sneak up on ONE)? The issues of limited govt and spending were so clear, that I did not have to worry about ego; keeping the issues in front kept things from being personal. The biggest insult of the last campaign was when the newspaper ran my little $30 ad RIGHT NEXT to Bill Clinton’s great big ad. Geez, why would they do such a thing to me! While in El Dorado, I met a guy that changed my thinking on politics. Before Hal Lewis and even though I was a believer, I said a lot of dumb things. For instance, the day Robert Kennedy was shot, I got up in front of my Homeroom class and asked, “When is this country going to ban hand guns?” – oh please!. Hal introduced me to individualism and the evils of collectivism. Before Hal, I don’t think I had any favorite books. Now my favorite books are those which praise Individualism – The Fountainhead, Whittaker Chambers, Ataturk, (Trump was one of my favorite individualists until he just recently took bankruptcy on one property to save another. I don’t like it – using the govt to save one’s hide), The Savage Nation, etc. I feel so far behind today’s young people on my side like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Walter Williams, Cal Thomas, Mike, Savage. Charlie Wilson (Charlies War), Joanne Herring,et. al., who were reading good stuff even in high school. I am so proud of them. I can’t remember reading one good biography in high school, so you can see how far behind I was when Hal Lewis got hold of me. He taught me so much about free-enterprise and individualism. I never thought I would see the fall of communism in my lifetime. When you read the last 100 years of American History, you realize there must be a God that has preserved us. With as many Communists as there were in New York in the 30s and as many as there were in govt, you realize that we should have been gone long ago. What saved us? Fate? I don’t think so. God and people like Whittaker Chambers, McCarthy (yes McCarthy), Nixon (yes Watergate was silly, but Nixon believed Chambers when almost no one else did), World War II, yes, probably all of these helped. I do not believe we will see English spelled phonetically in my lifetime (I would love to see it), but I’m glad I lived to see the Berlin Wall go down. I’m glad I lived to see the day that Reagan told Gorbachev (at Reykjavik) “The meeting is over; we’re going home”. What a guy! These are two of his best, “Here’s my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose”, and this one., “Government is like a baby; an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.” After El Dorado we came to Tampa to be close to our children and grandchildren. For the last 10 years Liz worked in 2 hospitals and I worked in an environmental lab. I was the old guy in the lab so they all had fun with me. I kidded them about their horrible music and believe it or not, some of them agreed with me. I enjoyed chromatography a lot and there at Pelab realized what a powerful instrument it is. It was there that Chris taught me the important lesson, NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. That has explained many things for me. As of 2004, I now spend 3 hours per night listening to Mike Savage. Liz says “Are you going to listen to him again tonight; he says the same thing over and over.” Well, not really, but of course it almost sounds that way. I sometimes wonder what I did every night before Mike Savage? I guess I watched TV with Liz or maybe read more books. Anyway, even though he is not a Christian (his parents were Jewish) I believe the things he is saying (for the most part) could save the country, and maybe some are listening. For instance, last summer he said that we should warn the women and children that they had 72 hours to get out of the Sunni triangle because after than time it would be a parking lot. Ok, it may sound strange, but you will have to admit that we have lost 1000 guys there since that time. If you have someone better to listen to or read, let me know. As of August 2004, I don’t have anyone to vote for, because Bush just continues to vote for every spending bill that comes along (Nixon vetoed 66 bills; has Bush has not vetoed one), and he will not take a stand against illegal immigrants. People still don’t realize that Bush was a miracle, (Gore should have been President because Nader took 97,000 votes away from him in Florida), and it will be a miracle if he wins again. Anyway I will vote for Bush because I don’t have a choice. I sound like I would like to go back to the good ole days, but not so. I can remember my folks going to grandfather’s house out on 16th street in a model T that had windshield wipers you work inside by hand. I have to admit that PVC pipe is much better and cheaper than the old sweated copper fittings. (30 cents at Home Depot is cheaper than calling a plumber). Yes, I enjoy carrying 6-8 plastic bags full of groceries rather than just the 2 brown paper bags I was limited to before. Yes, I enjoy throwing away the whole printer because one can buy a new printer with the cartridges for less than buying new cartridges. But better than that, I enjoy saving $70 bucks by refilling my own (I figure it costs me about 50c each time; of course, I’m not up to a laser yet like you all are). I don’t enjoy the aluminum coke can over the old coke bottle, but of course I realize it’s cheaper and I don’t miss returning those bottles. I can remember my folks putting up a sign for the ice man every day, 25-50 lbs. I have to admit I enjoy the frig. I can remember the horse drawn milk wagon coming by every morning with the thin neck milk bottles with the cream on the top, but I wouldn’t want to have to pay for that method now. It would cost me $10 for a gallon. Yes I enjoy the $150 color TV over the first B/W that my folks bought for $400 (and $400 then was like $2000 now). Yes, I enjoy buying a $5 watch that is more accurate than the top of the line in our day (the Bulova was $50 which s like $250 today). Almost everything is cheaper today (inflation adjusted) than 50 years ago except what? Except Medical care? Why? Because the govt is in it. Everytime the govt gets into something the price goes up. Can this be proved? Easily! Look at the inflation curve for Medical costs compared to the graph for all other costs starting with 1966 (Medicare). End of Story. No, it’s not going to change in my lifetime; it will only get worse. When we finally have socialized medicine, yes, everyone will have medical care but the govt will be borrowing faster than now, and/or the amount deducted from the paycheck will be 50%. Ouch. I was kept in the emergency room last year 3 hours (because the doctor who was going to sew my finger was on another case); $1200. Insane, for a country this smart. I am so thankful for my parents who didn’t have alcohol or cigarettes in the house. Thus, I was spared many medical problems. I am so thankful for my parents who taught me to trust the Lord, and thereby I have been able to avoid severe depression and melancholy and the doctor bills and drugs they cause. I am very thankful for my parents who taught me to trust in the Lord, and thus I do not have the awful loneliness which causes people to talk on cell phones all the time and buy CDs and DVDs constantly. Thus, I have saved a lot of money. Yes, this sounds holier-than-thou but if it helps one person to trust in the Lord instead of materialism, it will be worth the charge. Yes, I’ve had a very easy life. Why? Several reasons. I had good parents who tried to do the right thing. But now I will tell you explicitly the MAIN REASON why I’ve had a good life, (besides the Lord of course): I HAVE A WIFE THAT PUTS OUT. Question: What’s the difference between a Christian wife and a Christian woman? Answer: A Christian woman puts out. There are many women who go to Bible Study every week, they go to circle every month, and they talk a good game in Sunday School. But when the husband has been as selfish and stubborn as I have been some days, they are not able to surmount the hurt and put out. Elizabeth (and I don’t say this flippantly), has been able to put out most of the time. Mabel Morgan published a pretty good book on the subject about 20 years ago. Liz and I published a book which said about the same, but unfortunately we gave it the wrong title (WIFE, 90% OF THE FAULT). I wonder why the book went nowhere? More recently Dr. Shay Roop in Clearwater has written a more explicit book. Yes, it sounds selfish, but it (the putting out) is the main reason I’ve had a good life (I know I’m supposed to say Jesus is the main reason, but I’M not there yet). Another reason I’ve had a good life is the two great kids we’ve had and the grandkids. Here again, Liz was able to discipline them and love them at the same time. I was able to discipline pretty well, but I didn’t love very well, so it was a life saver that Liz was able to neutralize me. I don’t like to admit the following, but it will be good for me to be honest with my friends. I feel almost like C. S. Lewis on some of his rough days at the end. My faith is very weak right now (10/15/04). “Lord help thou my unbelief” seems to be my continual prayer. I want to believe so much, but when I see Benny Hinn zapping those people on TV, and Rod Parsly, and most of the other TV “evangelists’, I’m tempted to agree with Ted Turner that we’re caught up in a game. I know I shouldn’t think about them because in the Old Testament the Lord shows us clearly that there will always be false prophets. (I’m not saying Benny is a false prophet; I’m just saying the result it has for me is the same as the deadness of the false prophets). Also, I’m having a tough time with my faith right now because of the two missionaries that were killed last year in Yemen. Yes, I know that this is nothing new. Stephen was stoned and John was beheaded, but we didn’t spend the money of many Godly Christians to send THEM to Bible School and Seminary and fly them over there. And I know about the 200 missionaries that were killed in the Boxer Rebellion and the 7 killed in Equador, etc, and those bother me too. It seems like such a waste. Don’t pray for me about this (unless the Lord commands you to) because I know better. I know that I’m supposed to believe “though he slay me”. You’re right, I should not be this weak, because I was raised in a Godly home and had all the privileges of CBC (now CIU), Intervarsity, etc, but I’m weak right now. When I go to church and see these Praise and Worship Teams singing and dancing exactly like Brittany Spears and Whitney Houston, it makes me wonder, “Am I believing in a con game?” After all, the Lord could stop them if He wanted to. (When I get to heaven, I’m going to request that I be separate from those Praise and Worship Teams. Yes, I know we will all be praising the Lord, but we WON’T BE PAID TO DO IT. I dont like those teams because they sing like the world, they dress like the world, they sway like he world, and they dance like the world. My problem with the faith is nothing new for me; when I was in Istanbul I was weak; Liz was the missionary while we were there. Even today, when I talk with my Turkish friends about their mothers and dads who never heard about Jesus in an evangelical way, I’m at a loss for words. Maybe my son is right: The Lord just gave the OT and NT revelations and then took his hands off. Those 6 Bible school kids can get killed in the van in Lake Wales, and the Lord doesn’t interfere. Yes, the Lord will make it turn out for good (Rom 8;28), but it’s hard on my faith. P. S. 2007 I’ve decided that I dont believe I have the witness of the Spirit as Paul describes, “His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are..”. I know I’m saved because I believe that Jesus died for my sin(s), and I know that one must believe for salvation without feeling, but It seems that Paul is saying more than just believing. Any Christian who wants to write to me about this may do so; be rough with me; I can take it. Adele and I were picked to be the Seniors of Fairland most likely to succeed. Adele went on to paint Rockefeller, Chuck Yeager, and many more. As you can see, I was not as prolific, but I certainly am thankful for my life and the many blessings I’ve had. I have not deserved them, and I certainly do not take them for granted. That picture of me sitting in my Aunt Beulah’s glider is the best. Please stop by when you come to Florida and sit here on the bank of the Hillsborough River and tell me about yourself. Neither my dad nor I were businessmen in our lives, but my two grown kids, Deb and Dan have great traditions from their grandfathers. My grandfather Rood sold vegetables on the street and then later sold 5-cent fish sandwiches from a horse drawn wagon on 8th street and 3rd avenue in Huntington. He made enough money to buy several rent houses and retire very early for those days. Before it became fashionable to jog and walk, in his latter years he walked almost every day from 30th street downtown to the market. Liz’s dad was an entrepreneur for sure. He started out with a tiny store in El Dorado and grew it into a money maker similar in size to the IGA stores. I can’t believe how much money my mom and dad saved and neither of them ever made over 6-8 dollars per hour. They have left us more money than most. Dad once opined that he had lost 5000 dollars of the “Lord’s money” in the stock, but he made far more than that on other deals. My mother is now (2005) 91 and I recently took her back to her birthplace at “Barn Run in Braxton County WV just to see how far she had come. Now I let her help me on odd jobs here and at Thonotosassa and I tell her that it’s a LONG WAY from Barn Run to I-4 in Tampa and she agrees and says Praise the Lord. I could keep going, but I need to start writing out my funeral. I’m not planning to go tomorrow, but like Reagan, I want there to be some content besides that horrible song, Beyond the Sunset, and at this point I don’t believe I want to be opened. I would like to be cremated and have half my ashes in the Hillsborough River (the river I swim in) and half of them in the Bosphorus (in Istanbul), but I don’t want to do it because of the fact that so many Eastern religions give a religious meaning to it, and I don’t want to be associated with that. (But for those who DO want to be cremated, I believe that Jesus will raise you up during the resurrection just as he will everyone else). He can put potassium, carbon, calcium, etc together from anywhere. In the meantime would the rest of you please write your life story and send it to me. Im enjoying so much living in the past and I would like to read yours. (Today I cant live in the past, because Ive got to go to Deborah’s and work on the plumbing). Biographies are now my favorites. I’ve enjoyed the following biographies and documentaries the last few years: Bernard Baruch, Whittaker Chambers (Witness), Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal (The Fountainhead), Henry Luce, Jim Baker, Donald Trump, Chuck Yeager, Patti Davis, Lorrie Morgan, Rabin, Sedat, Ataturk, Ray Charles, Roy Cohn, Frank Weaner, David Horowitz, Anthony Rossi (Tropicana), Patricia Neal, Boone Pickens, John Foster Dulles, Cotton Mather, Pat Buchanan, Raymond Lull, Richard Dortch, Dr. Viggo Olsen, etc. Wow, I wish I had read these when I was 20. Now would you please send me your Bio? Roy Rood, 813 899 1268 royerood@verizon.net 4823 Riverhills Tampa, FL 33617 11:50:39 AM | Permalink December, 2006 Yandim Yar This video of Necla singing Yandim Yar is old but the AUDIO is still good. Please call her and ask her for musaade for me to keep this on YouTube.. It is so good see ya roy and liz YouTube Broadcast Yourself™ royerood wants to share the following video with you: Double Click on this photo Thanks, royerood Using YouTube YouTube Help Check the Help Center for answers to common questions. Your Account Settings To change your preferences, settings, or personal info, go to the ‘My Account’ section. Email Notifications To change or cancel email notifications from YouTube, go to the Email Options section of your Profile. Using YouTube YouTube Help Check the Help Center for answers to common questions. Your Account Settings To change your preferences, settings, or personal info, go to the ‘My Account’ section. Email Notifications To change or cancel email notifications from YouTube, go to the Email Options section of your Profile. royerood@verizon.net 6:01:22 PM | Permalink September, 2006 Turkiye Trip 2005 A Summary of our Recent Trip to Turkiye (summer 2005) From: Roy and Elizabeth Rood, 813 899 1268 royerood@verizon.net 4823 Riverhills, Tampa, FL, 33617 To: our former students and friends in Turkiye and our friends here in the states who might be interested. For most of you this is being sent via BCC so that your email addresses are not going all over the world, and some of you may want to skip to the bottom just to see if your names were mentioned, and thus you won’t have to read through all this stuff. I tried 2-3 other free websites but I like this one a little better. If you want to do one too, click at the top where it says, “Get your own space”. Double Click on Necla Hanims Yandim Yar http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhG1ES9SdjU Liz felt strongly that we should go and it turned out great, but as some of you know I was afraid to go to Turkiye (the middle east etc). My students assured me that there would be no problems but if you’ve ever been to the Sali Pazar or a village market you know how many people there are and how close they are. Also, it didn’t make sense to me that both of the big events scheduled were on the same day. Anyway we went. My friend Derya met us at the airport along with Muzaffer and some others, and we stayed with him, Nermin, and Arda. Arda is good at computers, so he made me several disks of Loreena McKenna, the Irish singer that is so popular in Turkiye. Nermin and Derya did a lot to make our stay so enjoyable. Derya is the one student that has written me more than any others, and I’m so thankful for his friendship. Again we visited his fathers shop where he and his father made ceramics for many years and where Derya still does his translation and some of his architectural work. We went to the 50th anniversary of Kadikoy Maarif Koleji (now Anadolu Lisesi) where I taught in 1965-67. There we met maybe 40 students and then afterward met with several more in a restaurant in Moda, an old section of Istanbul very near the school. Derya had planned it so well. In my speech I mentioned several of the highlights of the good ole days and of course I had to sing the only Turkish song I know, Saray Yolu. The stuck up Turks at the next table enjoyed it too I hope. Sedat and Mehmet told me of their escapades with my tests and I laughed a lot. My former students do not believe that Turkiye will ever join the common market; they say, however, that they believe the changes Turkiye is making to meet the requirements are making Turkiye a better nation. They agree with many that Yolsuzluk (corruption) is the biggest problem in Turkiye, but they don’t know what to do about it. I, for one, am praying almost daily for another Ataturk, a man strong enough to go into the villages and say that yolsuzluk in the govt will be kicked out(”Yani Yolsuzluk nefret ederiz”). They say it will never happen, but I remind them that prayer changes things and that the Berlin wall came down in my lifetime when I was sure it never would. I told the students that I hoped Turkiye would not (taklit etmek) that is imitate American music (MTV, VH1, Eminem, those awful, immoral MF words, etc). They assured me that it was probably too late for me to hope that. ooh I was disappointed that I could not see Nuri Bey and Vehbi Bey even though I tried hard. Maybe next time. At the reunion I did get to see Basara Hanim(Lutfu Bey’s wife) and Munever Hanim. Later I also enjoyed seeing Nevber Hanim at her apartment. She remembered Daniel and Deborah, and the friends that were with me enjoyed Nevber so much. They said her Turkish was mukemmel and she was as sharp and witty as ever. Her parents sacrificed to send her to England as a young girl to study English. And then a another surprise; Muammer Hanim, one of our former secretaries at Maarif, cam

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Roy and Elizabeth’s Home Page FOR A PHOTO ALBUM YOU MIGHT ENJOY CLICK ON Photos above, Ben Lippen, Melbourne, Kadikoy, etc. To save a photo on your machine, simply click on the photo, then right click and choose “Save Picture” and then choose the file you want. royerood@verizon.net Blog list My Friend Vehbi Bey is Gone The Va Tech Murders and Misyoner A Soldier Has Fallen Save and Copy Photos Turkiye Trip 2005 Yandim Yar by Necla Akben My Life So Far 0107

Vehbi Bey, My Friend, is Gone Kadikoy Maarif To view faster, move indicator. To save a photo, right click, and hit Save Picture_ Photo 1 of 107 More albums (1) Kadikoy Maarif To view faster, move indicator. To save a photo, right click, and hit Save Picture_ (107) November, 2006 Guestbook Thanks for visiting! Book list Ataturk by Lord Kinross there will not be another Atarurk Henry and Clare by Ralph G. Martin both rich but unhappy One Against Many by Frank Weaner a great Florida businessman Ronald Reagan by Dinesh DSousa “Mr. Gorbachev this meeting is over” The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand the best work on individualism Warren Buffet he really does his homework Witness by Whittaker Chambers a former communist beats the media Blog March, 2008 My Friend Vehbi Bey is Gone Derya, thank you so much for writing me of the passing of Vehbi Bey My Good Memories of Vehbi Guney  I hope I have not made very many mistakes in recalling the followiing memories. Please forgive me if I have made errors.      I have several good memories of Vehbi Bey I wish I could remember when I first met him and what we talkied about together, but I can’t remember that. I believe he told me that he was the first student from Rize to enter the Teachers College in Istanbul, and of course he was proud of that. I wish I could have met him then.And of course he loved Ataturk and talked about him a lot. Several times he reminded me, “Mr. Rood, do not be too friendly with our Turkish students. They will not understand. Yes, in your country, it is normal for teachers to be more friendly, but here in Turkiye they will not understand.” He was right of course, and because I was too friendly at times, I did not get the same respect as the Turkish teachers. (Of course too, I was very young). I remember too that the Anne-Baba Association wanted us to stay a third year, but Vehbi Bey and I could not agree. I asked if he could dismiss from the school a few of the troublemakers(yaramazlar), after warning them of course, but he explained that he couldn’t do that, and I understood. At that point I decided not to stay for a third year and I believe it was best for us and the school too. I do remember his coming to our house to present Deborah Zeynep with the gold coin that the Turkish teachers and employees had sent. As you know, they made very little money, so this was a big thing for those friends. I hope we thanked them enough. I wish I could go to each of them now and thank them, Zehra, Halil, Nuri, Nevber, Lorene, Joan, Ilhan, Teoman, Orhan, Ismet, Nezahat, Nuriye, Fahri, Emir, Cemal, Melek, Nedime, Mehmet (wasnt he such a good natured man), Vedia, Hikmet Gunsel, Remziye, Remzi Tuna, Ali Yalcin, Burhan, Cihat, Ali Alacam, Naciye, Muammer, Gungor, Ascibasi Faik, Teknisyen Hasan . Many of them are gone now but their good memories are still with us. They were MUTEVAZi. He also came to our house several times and he and some Turkish friends sang several folk songs, aman, aman , etc and he enjoyed himself so much. He was very kind to my children, Deborah and Daniel. I last saw him in 96 I believe, and he was very discouraged. Not only had he lost Mesture Hanim, but he had also lost a son, the one who died in Rize (his hometown). He said he did not understand why God was leaving him here, so I tried to encourage him that his tutoring of his grandchild there in Yalova was a worthwhile endeavor and she appreciated him. Bildiginz gibi, Hamdolsun he was not at the Fatih Apartment when the earthquake hit Yalova. That was a miracle of course. As you kniow, he and Mesture Hanim and the children lived in a very small house there on the school property, but he was not too proud to invite us to his house for cay several times. Elizabeth and Nurtan became very good  friends then. We later visited her and her family at the Cicek Evi in Yalova. He was so proud of his grandchildren there. Attached is part of a letter he wrote me in 78. Because of the inflation of that time, he had to start working again, so he taught some classes in Kadikoy and also on the other side of the Bosphorus, so at that time it was very difficult for him to find time to write us. I remember that he used the word NEVER a lot, but right now I cant remember any instances of it, but I remember that he would say, ” I NEVER…” when talking about the school sysstem or the government, and he was very emphatic when he used it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!    I wish I could remember one of those sentences. I was not able to see him in 2005, and I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN HIM ONE MORE TIME BEFORE HE DIED. I MISS HIM.    love           roy and elizabeth rood   5:32:59 PM | Read comments (5) | Permalink May, 2007 The Va Tech Murders and Misyoner One of my Turkish Friends wrote “Please tell your Friends to not send missionaries to Turkiye. ,.   I answer by stating that because we are good friends, we can disagree agreeably, (biz anlasmayabiliriz.  Ne yapalayiz? Kolaydir. As  you know Jesus said, “go into all the world and make disciples”, so we as Christians have to go. We dont have a CHOICE. Mecburiyet.       But we do have a choice on how we react to the situation. Mesela, last week 2 Christian Turks and one missionary were killed. This is nothing new. Jesus said it would happen and everyone knows it will happen from time to time, and the churches who send out missionaries know it will happen once in awhile or maybe every day for awhile. or every day until Jesus returns.      And of course Moslem missionaries have been killed too, In the crusades, ignorant “christians” (remember “christians” in quotation marks in this case means that they were not true christians). killed Moslems, thinking they were doing the will of God.      So missionaries of every religion have been killed and will continue to be killed; this is nothing new and is to be expected.      Yes, we are sorry that it divides the Turkish people for missionaries to come there and try to make converts. (It doesnt  bother the secularists (bagimsizlik), but of course it bothers the “believers”). But does it bother the TRUE believers? No, because the TRUE BELIEVER (Turk or American) WANTS PEOPLE TO SEEK GOD NO MATTER WHO THEY ARE.        Now why all the killing? Two reasons: 1) some killers are motivated by EVIL and 2) some killers are just ignorant. If there was NO RELIGION in the world there would still be some killings. Why? Because EVIL is rampant in people and in the world.       Let’s take number 2) first. Some Killers are just ignorant. Those young people that killed those Turks last week were probably just ignorant. They probably were not evil. They were probably just ignorant of God’s ways, that is, they probably thought they were killing those people for Turkiye and for God. As you know Pavlos (Incilde) killed many Christians thinking that he was doing God’s will. He was not Evil; he was simply ignorant of God’s ways. And of course, since his heart was right before God, God finally showed him his error. Also as you know, when Stephen prayed  for his killers, he prayed, “Ya Rab, onlara bu gunahi yukleme” (Acts Bap7), so Stephen realized that they were simply ignorant of God’s will. Of course it’s awful for the wives and children but they knew about the possibility of death when they became Christians. Every person in the middle east has to face that decision and it’s a hard one.      Now let’s take number 1)  Some killers are EVIL. As you know I graduated from Virginia Tech, so of course Im saddened about the murdered kids. Was Cho ignorant? Only God knows, but the evidence seems to be that he was EVIL. He was filled with HATE, and hate is EVIL; hate is from Satan. He said he was doing it for his children, but if so, why did he have to hate? As you can see from the videos and the his writings, it seems to be HATE.  Example, I disagree with the socialists of the world, because they want to take my money and give it to someone else, and this is wrong according to the commandment Calmiyacaksin (thou shalt not steal). But as far as I know my heart and mind; I do not HATE the socialists. Yes I thoroughly disagree with them, and I think I could kill them if they tried to take over America by force, but I dont think I HATE them.      What about Michael Moore who is so adamant against George Bush. Bilmiyorum, yalniz Allah bilir, but it seems to me that its HATE. What about Joe Biden, a Senator. Yes, he is adamant against George Bush too, but it doesn’t appear to be HATE. He seems like he is actally interested in truth (Only God knows of course).       Do I believe I could kill another person WITHOUT HATE.  I think so. . Mesela, if I had been in that classroom and had a gun, I think I could have killed Cho WITHOUT hating him..The psychologists believe that babies are born good, and only society is turning them into evil people. I dont believe that. I believe that all people are born as sinners and unless they are saved, they can easily become EVIL. I believe that many of  our rap and metal singers have crossed the line and are now HATERS. They were once ignorant, but when they turned their backs on God, they became haters. I am very pessimistic about the future of America, and my hope is that many of our young people will soon turn their minds away from the awful music and the HATE  that goes with it. Why do they have to say mf mf…mf and push that homo lifestyle on us? Yes some of it is ignorance, but Im afraid much of it is HATE.      Thus, I am not disturbed about the divisions of people in Turkiye as you are. There have always been only three groups of people in the world; the believers, the atheists, and the agnostics (those who are not sure). Turks must learn to live with missionaries and Turkish Christians who disagree with them agreeably. And if the Turks cannot do this, then they will just have to kill the missionaries because those missionaries are  “going into all the world” just as Jesus told  them to do. Remember death is not the worst thing in the world. Living in torture is worse. (I guess my students at Maarif didnt kill me because I either did not preach about Jesus, or the students were kind enough to tolerate me )       And I am not disturbed about the divisions of people in America. The atheists in America will have to learn to live with the Christians who disagree with them agreeably, or they will have to kill the Christians and preachers, because those preachers  are “going into all the world (American cities}” just as Jesus told them to do. Liberals and liberal psychologists are always screaming for people to UNITE, “please unite; let’s be one America” they say. But Jesus did not say that. He said he came to DIVIDE. Thus, it has always been true that wherever Christians have gone, they have DIVIDED people. Why? Because EVIL and dogruluk do not mix. And where true Moslem believers (not dinci but inananlar) have gone, they always cause DIVISION because EVIL and RIGHTEOUSNESS do not mix. Christians and Moslems and all true believers will always be causing DIVISION, and Turkiye and America will have to learn to disagree with them agreeably, or they can kill them. Is this bad for a country? NOT AT ALL. Divisions are certainly better than the status quo (EVIL). Anything is better than EVIL unopposed.        And dont be sorry that we disagree on this. It’s good for us to  be able to disagree agreeably; 90% of the people in the world cannot disagree agreeably.      Hell (for emphasis) I dont even agree with Elizabeth on everything!!!!!!!!!, but we still love each other.      Now on divisions, do you agree that Turkish Sunnis and Shias NEED to learn to disagree agareeably?. Do you agree that the Turkish TV programs should be preaching that both groups should be serving God together, because after all THEY BOTH SERVE THE SAME GOD?       And now more on divisions, I agree that Methodists and Baptists here in America should be on the TV stating clearly that both Groups ARE SERVING THE SAME GOD AND they should be able to disagree with one another agreeably.        What about those religionists WORLDWIDE WHO CANNOT DISAGREE AGREEABLY.  Well some are 1) ignorant (they believe they are doing God’s will). OK we can pray for these. But some are 2) EVIL and yes we can pray for them, but when they break the law and kill others, they must themselves be killed. (Im sorry that Turkye no longer has the death penalty (simply so they can please the awful European Common Market). When the govt neglects to give death to people who HATE, then hate will continue to proliferate (see what the lack of a death penalty has done for America). . The bible says “paradoken” God GAVE THEM UP, and I believe there comes a time when the govt has to give them up too, and that time is when the killers HATE.       So we disagree agreeably. Let the missionaries come to Turkiye and let the Turks have a choice. If they choose to kill the missionaries, that will be nothing new. Let the Moslem missionaries come to America and if America cannot disagree with them agreeably, then America has a problem. Of course the governments can always go back to refusing to grant visas, and that’s a choice the people can make.     Also, I do not believe the rumors that these missionaries are sent out by the CIA. I dont think so. No missionary in his right mind is going to go to Turkiye for the CIA knowing that he could be killed. But if there are CIA people posing as missionaries, I hope that the ABD govt will learn about them  and BRING THEM HOME FAST AND PUNISH THEM. And if this is happening, I hope the Turkish Intelligence will be able to intercept messages on tape or in writing and thereby SEND THEM BACK TO AMERICA. But I  personally know some of the missionaries in Turkiye, and I do not believe they are connected with the CIA, and I  believe that they want to be as far away from the CIA as possible. 10:36:47 PM | Permalink January, 2007 My Life So Far 0107 MY LIFE SO FAR 0107 I hope I’m not being arrogant in thinking that anyone would want to read about my life. It’s just that I’m contacting a lot of old students and friends right now (I’m enjoying living in the past), and since I’m asking you to write me about what you have been doing, I want to have something on file that I can simply attach to an email and thus I don’t have to repeat things so often. If you get bored, just take what you can enjoy and toss the rest. If you are over 60, there are some things in here that you can remember.   I’ll have to admit it; I’ve had a pretty easy life. Being raised in Huntington WV and Proctorville OH in the Nazarene Church probably kept me very naïve which in a way was a good thing. We were weren’t well off, and even though it has its irritations, it also has its advantages. I remember collecting pig iron from the alley in a wagon (I believe it may have come with the slag from the steel mills in Ashland) and taking it to Guyandotte and selling it. I believe I also collected newspapers (WWII). I don’t believe Dick Newman collected pig iron with me, but I do remember us playing under Mrs. Rose’s huge Black Cherry tree. The first school I attended was Emmons Elementary. I went back and visited my 1st grade teacher, Rosa Henderson, and because I can read, I asked her if she taught me phonics. She said at about that time the school board was pushing the “look and guess” method, but she taught us phonics anyway. I thanked her because even though I am not so hot on some things, I CAN read. I just found an old writeup on Miss Freeman. I believe she gave me my first paddling. I believe it was because I threw a snow ball at Mary Rose Hodges and hit her in the very arm she had a cast on (my luck). My wife Elizabeth said why did you throw it and I said I was probably trying to get her attention. After all, on my sailor hat (a real one given to me by dad), I had written RER loves MRH. Geez what a nerd I was. I do remember getting picked on every afternoon by Bobby Richardson on the way home. Why didn’t I fight? Well, mainly because he was bigger than I was, but also Nazarene kids were taught not to fight. I remember playing with Richard Newman at home and playing football with Orlin Callicoat, John Snyder, Gary Black, Walter Bragg, Carl White, Morty Cartmill, et. al. on the playground. It never occurred to us that we could get an arm or leg broken. I’m substituting in the public schools here, and I’m so glad we didn’t go to schools like these in Tampa (it’s not a student problem of course; IT’S A PARENT PROBLEM). I calculated the Miss Freeman writeup to be about 1954 and she said THEN “the teachers of today are too lenient”, obviously comparing them with her 53 years in the system. What if she visited the schools now?   During WWII dad was moved to the Ottumwa Iowa Air Station. There I attended Garfield elementary. You’ve seen this on TV, but it actually happened to me. One morning a teacher mentioned that someone had set someone’s broken arm by simply pulling on it. That afternoon a student and I were wrestling when he threw me over and my arm was immediately took a right angle break. This kid pulled hard on my arm of all things, and another kid helped me hold it straight as I walked one-half mile home. The base doctor took an xray, pronounced that the compound fracture was set perfectly, and sent me home with a cast. Ive still got a paper I wrote at Garfield in which I wrote “From Casablanca to Okinawa American men died to bring the fist of airpower , long though its arm may be, within reach of our enemies”, Obviously that is straight out of the encyclopedia. But a little later I wrote this one, and it shows that I was obviously headed for great things. “Americans like to fly in airplanes because it saves them so much time”. Yea. Could any of you have come up with something that brilliant in the fourth grade? Geez.   That soapbox derby picture is a fluke. The Herald-Dispatch got it wrong. They said I was the winner, but I actually came in second. Too bad that the winner did such a good job and didn’t get his picture in the paper.   I went to Enslow for only a few weeks and we moved to Altizer so of course we had to get up every morning while it was still dark and get the bus to Barboursville Junior High. Because of the gawdawful schedules, we had to wait at that corner drug store for an hour. The kool guys sat in the booths and enjoyed the girls, while I watched them play the pinball machines I couldn’t put in a nickel because as my father explained “it’s gambling”. (I sorta wish he had let me play then; because maybe I could have learned to lose a little then rather than lose so much in the stock market later). Good news. About three years ago I finally bought me a 1976 pin-ball machine similar to the ones at Barboursville; it has the bumpers and the pop-up numbers. I remember the most popular song in those days was GHOST RIDERS IN THE SKY; I sure prefer that over Britany Spears, KISS, and all the trash on MTV now. I was glad to see America finally stand up and react to Justin and Janet’s show at the 2004 Super Bowl. It was mighty late in coming, but …… Yes, I did see the Ray Charles movie but was disappointed. Yes they showed that he got off heroin, but they didn’t show any of the successes of his last 25 years where he thrilled many audiences with “Oh Beautiful..Thank You Jesus. ..”Etc.   At Barboursville I was most impressed in sports by our basketball team; those guys had a fast break almost as good as the one at Marshall College. I think Buzzy Carter was the middle man on the fast break and I think it was Nottingham on the right and maybe Bill Call or Ernie on the right. Gary Wolfe shot the long one handers Bob Cousy style. I remembered Bill Curry at guard and he helped me to remember Ernie Smith at forward. Those guys went all the way to the WVA state tournament. Mr. Russell was so good at those underhand foul shots. I don’t think I’ve seen one for awhile. I still have a dream once/year that I’m in that old gym, and it’s about to fall off the hill. Wasn’t that funny; we had to play handball down in those catacombs on the days when the girls had the gym. I’m sure it wasn’t much for the in-crow,but for a Nazarene youth, the 9th grade party was a big deal. I still don’t know how Dad let me go to that “dance”. Did he find out beforehand that it would be the Virginia Reel and “Down By The Old Mill Stream”? Well I’m glad he did because I had a good time. I probably thought that swinging those girls was the greatest ever. I enjoyed talking on the phone the other day with Miss Copenhaver(math, I believe).   Why did Mr. Berisford give me those Good Citizenship awards? Did he feel sorry that I didn’t play sports? I WAS in Mrs. Ray’s glee club if that counts. My best friends there were Jack Bazemore and Joe Self and Larry Legg, and we were even good friends at Marshall. That early morning shop with Mr. McNeer was so cold but the soldering helped to warm it a bit. My girl friends were Georgia, Frances, Sherry, and Sheila but of course THEY DIDN’T KNOW IT. Ha Ha. Johnny Ray says that he and I rode our bicycles all the way from Altizer to wherever (Crossroads?) and got Georgia and Frances and rode to a park somewhere. I don’t remember that, and I accused him of making it up, but I bet his memory is better than mine, ha ha. But at least that shows that we were interested in girls at that age. Im so glad I was interested in girls instead of boys. (the first time a man made a pass at me in Philadelphia I didn’t know what was happening. I cant believe I went to a church four times on Sunday and once in the middle of the week and I don’t remember anyone ever explaining Romans 1 to me. Or worse yet, you mean I was 18-20 years old and had never read it myself? OH PLEASE!). (I’m so sorry we lost Sherry so early. My dad wouldn’t let me dance, but at Marshall they required us to do a little in Orientation; Sherry tried to help me). I wish I had learned to dance a little bit, because Liz enjoys dancing so much and she wants me to dance with her. I prefer her to clog to bluegrass for me and she can do that very well, although she is real good at the 50s dances too.   In 1950 my parents moved to Proctorville where I attended Fairland High. I will never forget getting on the bus the first week and the girls sang Sana, Sana, Sana but also hymns, Amazing Grace, etc. Adele Thornton thinks she remembers them singing Do Lord Oh Do Lord, Oh Do Remember Me. I believe it was mainly the Watts girls, Glenna Heinz, Adele, and maybe Roseanne Duncan, et. al. (I welcome all of you to call or email me and make corrections and additions). It is such a good memory to remember the singing in those buses and how different bus rides for the kids are today. We had it so good. The meals (my favorite was grilled cheese and tomato soup) were a quarter. I’m proud that I scored the highest in our school on the county chemistry exam, and I believe that may be the reason I still love chemistry. (Mother and I still have our Chemistry Report Cards). Why did Miss Bragg give me a B+ for the year when I had 4 A’s and 2 B’s. (Oh Roy Get Over It!!!) I am ashamed that I gave Miss Bragg a hard time and she had to give me noon detentions so much. I can’t believe I did that. Also being a smart alec, for the Senior Wills, I had to will my “enjoyable noon hours with Miss Bragg to Frank Stephens”. Why did I have to be so tacky? Otherwise I didn’t cause much trouble.   Mrs. Curtis was one of the best English teachers ever. I can still diagram sentences; these kids today have no idea where the object is. Mr. Wilgus made history so much alive, and even though I knew Dottie’s boyfriend was in the navy, I played like she was my girlfriend, simply because she talked to me once in awhile. (Remember that was an big thing; I was from the other side of the tracks and she was from a well to do family, but to her credit and the Gillett family’s credit, she was not stuck up). Dad wouldn’t let me play sports because if I played I would sometimes have to miss revival services, but thanks to Mom’s pleading we were able to play in Mrs. Holderby’s first band. I credit Mrs. Church’s math classes for my success in calculus later on. Charles Freeman, our top basketball player, was a great part of my life at Fairland. We played ping pong many. Many noon hours during noon hours, and he beat me almost every time with his triumphant attitude. He remembers us going to his grandfathers barber shop, one of the first in Proctorville. I wish I could remember that.   I only attended Marshall one year but was able to witness the first Marshall game that was ever on TV. They beat Ohio U in the last few minutes 9-7 with only 19 guys on the team. I wish I knew the name of the guy who saved a sure Ohio U. touchdown in the last few minutes with a shoestring tackle. Sonmeone has since told me that Gunter is the player that kicked then winning field goal. Mrs. Bragonier had to give me the logarithm test (a requirement) three times. I was on the first Marshall debate team, and that was my first intro to free trade. I was not able to debate the negative well, and to this day I’m a free trader all the way and our wages have to come down; in fact, outsourcing is the only way our wages are going to come down. We’ve already lost millions because of our high salaries. (Few employees are worth $50/hour). I liked Dr. Urian a lot and did well in his engineering drawing class. Dr. McCaskey was fun too (and good).   Because Dad knew some engineers at South Point, I was able to work there every 3 months as a co-op student and attend VPI (now Va. Tech) on alternate quarters. No one believes of course that we were able to attend that fine engineering school for $1000/year (room, board, tuition, and all). That’s where I first saw college wrestling and I love it to this day. I didn’t see much football there; even teams like Villanova beat us regularly. VPI is where I first attended InterVarsity meetings and where I first got into real Bible study. It was a great group of guys who have really done things in their lives’ and I keep up with some of them even today. My roommate there, Clay Johnston, tried to get me to keep my room better: “Rood, when are you going to clean your side of the room”. (Liz doesn’t ask. She just does it and complains to the Lord later). Somewhere in here I began watching Flatt and Scruggs on Thurs nites when they came to Huntington in their bus. I have since learned that that was one of the first bluegrass bands ever to have a weekly TV show (about 55-56). I enjoy bluegrass now, especially “Get Down on Your Knees and Pray”, more than ever. I cant stand the Bill Gaither stuff; maybe it’s because I was in a quartet in high school and college and I don’t believe it helped my Christian life any. On my application to grad school at the University of Florida, one question was. “Why do you want to attend this university?” I wrote, “Because it’s warmer down there”. Yea.   I first saw Tallahassee from a Greyhound bus and I thought (and still do) the live oaks with the Spanish moss was one of the prettiest scenes I had ever seen. I didn’t do well on my masters degree and I don’t know exactly why (the coursework seemed so hard compared to the undergrad work I had had), but the big thing was that I did my thesis under Dr. A. J. Teller, a former Manhattan Project engineer. I didn’t appreciate completely what I learned from him then, but much of it has stuck with me on every job I’ve had. He loved what he was doing and stayed with it every night til Sherry came and dragged him home. He went on to build 300+ chemical plants and obtain 105 patents. My favorite song there was, “It’s All In the Game”, but I didn’t find a wife there even though I did date the President’s daughter once(a tri-Delt, Yea). Richard Cushman took me on my first alligator hunt (HE grabbed them) and later to swim in my first Florida spring. I’ve loved Florida ever since. Who wouldn’t? I still love the Spanish Moss, and the Ibus’ and Blue Herons are my favorite birds. One summer I worked for Dr. Bennett extracting wax from Spanish Moss.   At about that time I began having questions on the authenticity of the Bible and more importantly questions on the gospel. so since I had $250 left I decided to attend Columbia Bible College and get some answers, a very good move. In the registration line, I met Elizabeth and liked her immediately. Because it was a very strict school, the opportunities for dating were very limited. I invited her to play ping pong a few times, and although I liked her a lot, she didn’t care for me that much, so it was over in about 3 weeks. I did well in the courses there, and I credit those professors and staff people with teaching the Bible well and more importantly “fleshing it out”. Liz and I tried it again the next fall, and again she had had all of me she could take in about a month. George Hutchinson remembers my one long one-handed shot in the championship game with the juniors: with one second left in the half, I threw a swisher from one end to the other. Yes I did get some answers to my questions, but like everyone who had studied before me, I quickly learned that my original questions were minor. Example:If one is going to believe the fact that one man (Jesus Christ) by his sacrifice paid for the sins of the whole world, quite a stretch, then one can accept almost all the other questions in the Bible. Toward the end of my 2nd year, Mr. Hatch asked me if I might be interested in teaching science at Ben Lippen School in Asheville. (I was interested in education because at VPI, I was very impressed with Dr. Fred Bull, a master teacher, and had even taken an elective course in education. What a pitiful course, as were most education courses in those days. I can only remember that the first public school was in 1843 Big Deal.   At Ben Lippen I taught Chemistry and Physics and didn’t coach but went out on the field with the junior boys soccer team. Although I enjoyed the classes, I was too negative compared to the way I am now, so I’ve had to apologize to those kids and of course they write and say that I wasn’t negative at all, and that makes it nice. One of those Ben Lippen students is now Provost at Notre Dame University, one of the highest positions in education in the land (his parents were the best and the humblest people ever). I will never forget Dr. Fortosis and his wife and his love for God and the students. Paul Morrison recently reminded me that since he was the music censor on campus, he had to censor one of my Flatt and Scruggs records. It had to be “The Cabin on the Hill” because that’s the only one I owned. During the 2nd year, Elizabeth and I tried it (dating)again, and this time she decided she could stand me. Yea. Besides salvation of course, she was the best thing that has ever happened to me. I had decided to do something else by then so we honeymooned in Maryland and I attended a summer NSF session at American U. in Wash D. C. While there I learned the Kaufman Principle from our landlord when he fixed the fan after I thought it was broke. He said, “YOUNG PEOPLE REMEMBER, MOST OF THE TIME THINGS ARE SIMPLE”. That rule has saved me hundreds of dollars. It was on a bulletin board there that I saw the job opening at Melbourne High School, so were soon on our way – in a 1958 Volkswagon. Geez.   At Melbourne High I was able to teach in Dr. Brown’s well-known “Non-Graded” school, a first at the time. There I met the Dept. Head, Jerry Einem and witnessed his teaching and a few of his students who regularly won the National Science Fairs. I did something there that I would not do again. Just as I had done at Ben Lippen, I started each class with a prayer. Dr. Brown soon had to remind me that Madelyn Murray Ohair had succeeded in getting the Supreme Court to remove prayers from the schools, so I stopped of course. I’ve since decided that the court was right, because although I do not accept the concept of public schools (it’s stealing from one taxpayer and giving to another), I believe that since they exist, tax money should not be used to support doctrine – maybe released time is OK. I still remember Mrs. Pickens teaching us Psalm 1 in the 4th grade, but it was RELEASED TIME and parents could request their students out of there. But at Mel High I had a captive audience; they couldn’t opt out. During my 2nd year there Daniel was born, and I saw a job announcement for teachers to teach in Turkiye. I applied for a Fulbright grant and was accepted. I don’t know this to be a fact, but since there were 15 applicants for each position winner, I credit Dr.Teller and my Masters degree for that appointment.   Landing in Istanbul in 1965 was an unbelievable experience for two Southern kids who had never even been to New York City before. Our first week was a week of Turkish lessons. I will never forget that teacher coming in the door and saying. “Tanishtuh-uh-muhz-uh Memnun Oldum”. I still have one of my schedules showing that I taught 300 students (6 different preparations) a week in high school chemistry and 6th grade science. I taught at Kadikoy Maarif Koleji, a school for Turks who aspired to study university abroad. The students (who are now in their 40s-50s) remember me as being quite naïve but sincere. I have not kept up with many of them, but the ones I have written are very complimentary even if I did make mistakes. Many of those students have made successful careers in business and government, and the ones who have written me have been thankful for the education they received there. One of them Turgay Ozkan became President of the Turkish Export-Import bank and he has had a remarkable career with the IMF. Many of the other graduates are entrepreneurs all over Turkiye. Sevki Kayabay has his own diesel engine manufacturing plant, and several others own tourist related businesses. Derya Kaptan, my favorite entrepreneur has done a lot in his ceramic factory and as a builder has built some expensive homes near the Black Sea. Liz and I of course know that we are the ones who profited more than the Turks. We were made more aware of a whole world of people who are yearning for the same things we want in life. Even though our state dept has made colossal mistakes with Turkiye, the Turks are very forgiving and are still probably the most hospitable people toward us in the Middle East. I have visited my Principal, Vehbi Guney, twice but I wish I could have visited him more. Deborah was born there and her middle name is Zeynep because she was born in Zeynep-Kamil Hastahane, a Turkish hospital. She cost us $7.50 (that’s right, seven and one-half dollars). (I’m not for socialized medicine, but that was a good deal!) (Daniel cost $4000 in Melbourne).   The big thing I learned in Turkiye was that you can forget the first university course you had in education, (i. e. Education 101). Most of the rest of it is not necessary either. Here’s the biggie in education. In Turkiye if you have a PTA meeting, all 45 sets of parents are there asking “How is Ahmet doing in your class?” When you answer, “He’s not doing very well; he’s playing around some”, they say, “Don’t worry” (as they show physically what they will be doing to Ahmet) “Don’t worry, we will take care of him.” “VAh Vah, daha iyi olocak”. Well it used to be that way here 50 years ago, but what’s it like now? You have a PTA meeting or an open house here, and 1-2 parents (out of 30) come and those one or two say, “My son is having trouble in your class; WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU”. Do you see the difference? Forget all that Ed. 101 stuff, forget all that “more money for education” stuff; it’s so simple: IF YOU HAVE PARENTS, YOU HAVE EDUCATION. IF YOU DON’T HAVE PARENTS. FORGET IT. You can spend $20,000/student and nothing will happen. Yes my parents went to PTA meetings, but that’s not what they did for me. They gave us love and discipline and a place to do our homework. Yes I blame the principals and teachers today for not standing up for strong discipline, but at the same time I know that if they did, THE PARENTS WOULD COME SCREAMING TO THE SCHOOLS AND THE SCHOOL BOARDS. Just like the lawyers are not the problem with frivious lawsuits (it’s the plaintiffs), the teahers and principals are not fully to blame for the lousy schools. IT’S MAINLY THE PARENTS. Every August in the line at Walmart, one is reminded that the schools today are simply babysitters, and the ladies in line can hardly wait for school to start.   As the result of knowing Derya at Kadikoy, we have had some Turkish students staying in our home here in Tampa, while going to school to learn English. Several have become Christians. Several of you know my wife and can laugh at this one. I say, “Liz did you put any pressure on them to accept the Lord” and she says, “No, I just told them if they didn’t accept the Lord they would have to go back to Istanbul immediagtely.” Ha Ha. (Not true of course). They are now back in Turkiye in business careers and other pursuits.   As the Fulbright grant was only for 2 years, we returned to Melbourne High and taught there for 3 more years. As the result of being in that Turkish school, I was not able to put up with the foolishness that had crept into education while I was gone. Mr. Gillespie was kind; he said, “Roy you aren’t really with us all the way here. Do you want to stay one more year on probation. I thought about it, but realized he was right about me. I really had become too strict while I was in Istanbul.   At that point Bill Bryan, the principal of Bartow High, hired me to teach Chemistry and Physics and be Head of the Science Dept. Liz made the “mistake” of letting some black kids jump in the wading pool in our back yard, so of course there was a cross burning in our yard that night. I’m almost sure those KKK guys would not do that now, but those were different times and Lake Wales (nearby) was the headquarters of the KKK. I liked Bartow High but I made a big mistake. Silly me, I had it made with Chemistry and Physics, but I had to be a hero and volunteer for a Physical Science class. As you know, in most schools Physical Science is the science class one takes to make an easy grade for the required science credit. Silly me, I thought I could get those kids to enjoy science. How naïve. I did not know then about the old rule, “NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED”. Bill said, “I don’t know why I’m doing this but I’m asking you to resign, and I know you will either accept it as the Lord’s will or you will take your case all the way to Tallahassee”. I replied, “Bill of course you know what I’ll do”, so I quit and went back to Ben Lippen for 3 more years. But even there I had come to the place where I could not take much foolishness, so I told Jack I thought I needed to move on. Our two kids did well in Asheville and all of us have good memories of our time there at Ben Lippen. Liz did her first English tutoring there. At this point Liz’s mother asked us to come to Arkansas and do something with her farm.   I threw myself into farmwork, clearing land, bailing hay, etc, but it was soon clear that I was not going to make Monette any money on that farm. About this time, Calvin Howe hired me to help with his chain of motels. What a guy! To this day we love him and Lois so much. They are classy people in the correct sense of the word. From Calvin, I learned the Howe Principle: MOST OF THE TIME YOU CAN FIX IT YOURSELF; THE ONE TIME YOU CAN’T FIX IT, SOMEONE ELSE CAN. That rule has saved me hundreds more dollars. My family has suffered through used cars forever, and although they disagreed with the policy, I saved thousands, utilizing the Howe Principle. My most recent new-old car is my 87 Camry station wagon ($700). I love that 2000 engine and I get 30 mpg. Those Japanese engineers must have been inspired. Would I have bought it if Daniel had not recently bought us a new Hyundai (probably not). After a few months with Calvin, I applied for a chemist job and my ENSCO career began.   ENSCO(not Enron) was a little company owned by Melvyn Bell and Charlie Robertson and no one will ever believe their story(I hope it gets written some day). They were sorta “kicked out” of Minn and so they bought an old Amoco refinery in El Dorado Arkansas, with the hope of burning hazardous waste in it. They once picked me up at the airport and said, “Roy, if you stay with us, we are going to be Number One in this business”. I thought to myself, “I don’t think so”. . Well it is true that they sometimes had to ask us not to cash our checks until Wednesday, but they DID BECOME NO. 1 IN THE PCB BURNING BUSINESS. It just shows what guys with determination can do in a free-enterprise society. I learned more from Dr. George Combs there than from anyone else in the chemical industry. One day I asked, “George why do you walk so fast up this hill every time?” to which he replied, “Well Roy, as you know, on the farm, we had to get up every morning at 4 to milk the cows, and if I was going to get to school on time I had to move fast”. I learned that lesson well at ENSCO. Also, from George, I learned the rule of persistence again. On the most important EPA permit application, he had Helen and I up to 2AM several “nites” making sure that everything was right. I specifically remember his having me to order the aerial drawings from 2-3 different sources. I probably ought to call that the COMBS PRINCIPLE., yes, the Comb’s Principle: ON SOMETHING IMPORTANT, DOT EVERY I AND SOLVE EVERY PROBLEM TWO OR THREE DIFFERENT WAYS TO SEE IF THEY AGREE. Those people: Bill Schmidt, Gary Hodges, Bob Beer, Helene Rainwater, Ron Drye, David Harsh, Steve Hardin, Ted Claunch, Charlie, Melvyn, George … those people really contributed to my life and made it fun too.   While in Arkansas, I had a great time running for public office. Why did I run? I first ran for school board because the little town was being run by several of the elite, and any question at all about the school system was met with the attitude of “who are you to be questioning us”. I ran with the main proposition that the Superintendent of Schools and the President of the School Board should resign or be fired. That went over real big of course. After getting beat for school board several times, I ran for State Rep and the U. S. Congress. Why did I do that? Because no other Republicans wanted to run because it was a Democrat controlled area all the way from West Helena to Texarkana and they knew they’d get beat. Knowing me, you know that that was exactly the challenge I needed. My bumper sticker one year said. “BERYL, $120.000 IS TOO MUCH. But good news. After getting beat in 1990 by 73-27 and almost beating him in his own home county, I said to my lawyer, “Jay, if I, as negative as I am, could get 27% of the vote, I bet you could run and win”. He did and he won. Yea. I tell people that I am like Abraham Lincoln in that I ran for office 11 times. Of course, that’s where the similarity ends; Lincoln WON two of his races. Were these races ego trips for me; I don’t think so but it’s hard to be sure; (pride and ego can sneak up on ONE)? The issues of limited govt and spending were so clear, that I did not have to worry about ego; keeping the issues in front kept things from being personal. The biggest insult of the last campaign was when the newspaper ran my little $30 ad RIGHT NEXT to Bill Clinton’s great big ad. Geez, why would they do such a thing to me!   While in El Dorado, I met a guy that changed my thinking on politics. Before Hal Lewis and even though I was a believer, I said a lot of dumb things. For instance, the day Robert Kennedy was shot, I got up in front of my Homeroom class and asked, “When is this country going to ban hand guns?” – oh please!. Hal introduced me to individualism and the evils of collectivism. Before Hal, I don’t think I had any favorite books. Now my favorite books are those which praise Individualism – The Fountainhead, Whittaker Chambers, Ataturk, (Trump was one of my favorite individualists until he just recently took bankruptcy on one property to save another. I don’t like it – using the govt to save one’s hide), The Savage Nation, etc. I feel so far behind today’s young people on my side like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Walter Williams, Cal Thomas, Mike, Savage. Charlie Wilson (Charlies War), Joanne Herring,et. al., who were reading good stuff even in high school. I am so proud of them. I can’t remember reading one good biography in high school, so you can see how far behind I was when Hal Lewis got hold of me. He taught me so much about free-enterprise and individualism.   I never thought I would see the fall of communism in my lifetime. When you read the last 100 years of American History, you realize there must be a God that has preserved us. With as many Communists as there were in New York in the 30s and as many as there were in govt, you realize that we should have been gone long ago. What saved us? Fate? I don’t think so. God and people like Whittaker Chambers, McCarthy (yes McCarthy), Nixon (yes Watergate was silly, but Nixon believed Chambers when almost no one else did), World War II, yes, probably all of these helped. I do not believe we will see English spelled phonetically in my lifetime (I would love to see it), but I’m glad I lived to see the Berlin Wall go down. I’m glad I lived to see the day that Reagan told Gorbachev (at Reykjavik) “The meeting is over; we’re going home”. What a guy! These are two of his best, “Here’s my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose”, and this one., “Government is like a baby; an alimentary canal with a big appetite at one end and no sense of responsibility at the other.”   After El Dorado we came to Tampa to be close to our children and grandchildren. For the last 10 years Liz worked in 2 hospitals and I worked in an environmental lab. I was the old guy in the lab so they all had fun with me. I kidded them about their horrible music and believe it or not, some of them agreed with me. I enjoyed chromatography a lot and there at Pelab realized what a powerful instrument it is. It was there that Chris taught me the important lesson, NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED. That has explained many things for me.   As of 2004, I now spend 3 hours per night listening to Mike Savage. Liz says “Are you going to listen to him again tonight; he says the same thing over and over.” Well, not really, but of course it almost sounds that way. I sometimes wonder what I did every night before Mike Savage? I guess I watched TV with Liz or maybe read more books. Anyway, even though he is not a Christian (his parents were Jewish) I believe the things he is saying (for the most part) could save the country, and maybe some are listening. For instance, last summer he said that we should warn the women and children that they had 72 hours to get out of the Sunni triangle because after than time it would be a parking lot. Ok, it may sound strange, but you will have to admit that we have lost 1000 guys there since that time. If you have someone better to listen to or read, let me know. As of August 2004, I don’t have anyone to vote for, because Bush just continues to vote for every spending bill that comes along (Nixon vetoed 66 bills; has Bush has not vetoed one), and he will not take a stand against illegal immigrants. People still don’t realize that Bush was a miracle, (Gore should have been President because Nader took 97,000 votes away from him in Florida), and it will be a miracle if he wins again. Anyway I will vote for Bush because I don’t have a choice.   I sound like I would like to go back to the good ole days, but not so. I can remember my folks going to grandfather’s house out on 16th street in a model T that had windshield wipers you work inside by hand. I have to admit that PVC pipe is much better and cheaper than the old sweated copper fittings. (30 cents at Home Depot is cheaper than calling a plumber). Yes, I enjoy carrying 6-8 plastic bags full of groceries rather than just the 2 brown paper bags I was limited to before. Yes, I enjoy throwing away the whole printer because one can buy a new printer with the cartridges for less than buying new cartridges. But better than that, I enjoy saving $70 bucks by refilling my own (I figure it costs me about 50c each time; of course, I’m not up to a laser yet like you all are). I don’t enjoy the aluminum coke can over the old coke bottle, but of course I realize it’s cheaper and I don’t miss returning those bottles. I can remember my folks putting up a sign for the ice man every day, 25-50 lbs. I have to admit I enjoy the frig. I can remember the horse drawn milk wagon coming by every morning with the thin neck milk bottles with the cream on the top, but I wouldn’t want to have to pay for that method now. It would cost me $10 for a gallon. Yes I enjoy the $150 color TV over the first B/W that my folks bought for $400 (and $400 then was like $2000 now). Yes, I enjoy buying a $5 watch that is more accurate than the top of the line in our day (the Bulova was $50 which s like $250 today). Almost everything is cheaper today (inflation adjusted) than 50 years ago except what? Except Medical care? Why? Because the govt is in it. Everytime the govt gets into something the price goes up. Can this be proved? Easily! Look at the inflation curve for Medical costs compared to the graph for all other costs starting with 1966 (Medicare). End of Story. No, it’s not going to change in my lifetime; it will only get worse. When we finally have socialized medicine, yes, everyone will have medical care but the govt will be borrowing faster than now, and/or the amount deducted from the paycheck will be 50%. Ouch. I was kept in the emergency room last year 3 hours (because the doctor who was going to sew my finger was on another case); $1200. Insane, for a country this smart.   I am so thankful for my parents who didn’t have alcohol or cigarettes in the house. Thus, I was spared many medical problems. I am so thankful for my parents who taught me to trust the Lord, and thereby I have been able to avoid severe depression and melancholy and the doctor bills and drugs they cause. I am very thankful for my parents who taught me to trust in the Lord, and thus I do not have the awful loneliness which causes people to talk on cell phones all the time and buy CDs and DVDs constantly. Thus, I have saved a lot of money. Yes, this sounds holier-than-thou but if it helps one person to trust in the Lord instead of materialism, it will be worth the charge.   Yes, I’ve had a very easy life. Why? Several reasons. I had good parents who tried to do the right thing. But now I will tell you explicitly the MAIN REASON why I’ve had a good life, (besides the Lord of course): I HAVE A WIFE THAT PUTS OUT. Question: What’s the difference between a Christian wife and a Christian woman? Answer: A Christian woman puts out. There are many women who go to Bible Study every week, they go to circle every month, and they talk a good game in Sunday School. But when the husband has been as selfish and stubborn as I have been some days, they are not able to surmount the hurt and put out. Elizabeth (and I don’t say this flippantly), has been able to put out most of the time. Mabel Morgan published a pretty good book on the subject about 20 years ago. Liz and I published a book which said about the same, but unfortunately we gave it the wrong title (WIFE, 90% OF THE FAULT). I wonder why the book went nowhere? More recently Dr. Shay Roop in Clearwater has written a more explicit book. Yes, it sounds selfish, but it (the putting out) is the main reason I’ve had a good life (I know I’m supposed to say Jesus is the main reason, but I’M not there yet). Another reason I’ve had a good life is the two great kids we’ve had and the grandkids. Here again, Liz was able to discipline them and love them at the same time. I was able to discipline pretty well, but I didn’t love very well, so it was a life saver that Liz was able to neutralize me.   I don’t like to admit the following, but it will be good for me to be honest with my friends. I feel almost like C. S. Lewis on some of his rough days at the end. My faith is very weak right now (10/15/04). “Lord help thou my unbelief” seems to be my continual prayer. I want to believe so much, but when I see Benny Hinn zapping those people on TV, and Rod Parsly, and most of the other TV “evangelists’, I’m tempted to agree with Ted Turner that we’re caught up in a game. I know I shouldn’t think about them because in the Old Testament the Lord shows us clearly that there will always be false prophets. (I’m not saying Benny is a false prophet; I’m just saying the result it has for me is the same as the deadness of the false prophets).   Also, I’m having a tough time with my faith right now because of the two missionaries that were killed last year in Yemen. Yes, I know that this is nothing new. Stephen was stoned and John was beheaded, but we didn’t spend the money of many Godly Christians to send THEM to Bible School and Seminary and fly them over there. And I know about the 200 missionaries that were killed in the Boxer Rebellion and the 7 killed in Equador, etc, and those bother me too. It seems like such a waste. Don’t pray for me about this (unless the Lord commands you to) because I know better. I know that I’m supposed to believe “though he slay me”. You’re right, I should not be this weak, because I was raised in a Godly home and had all the privileges of CBC (now CIU), Intervarsity, etc, but I’m weak right now. When I go to church and see these Praise and Worship Teams singing and dancing exactly like Brittany Spears and Whitney Houston, it makes me wonder, “Am I believing in a con game?” After all, the Lord could stop them if He wanted to. (When I get to heaven, I’m going to request that I be separate from those Praise and Worship Teams. Yes, I know we will all be praising the Lord, but we WON’T BE PAID TO DO IT. I dont like those teams  because they sing like the world, they dress like the world, they sway like he world, and they dance like the world.     My problem with the faith is nothing new for me; when I was in Istanbul I was weak; Liz was the missionary while we were there. Even today, when I talk with my Turkish friends about their mothers and dads who never heard about Jesus in an evangelical way, I’m at a loss for words. Maybe my son is right: The Lord just gave the OT and NT revelations and then took his hands off. Those 6 Bible school kids can get killed in the van in Lake Wales, and the Lord doesn’t interfere. Yes, the Lord will make it turn out for good (Rom 8;28), but it’s hard on my faith.      P. S. 2007 I’ve decided that I dont believe I  have the witness of the Spirit as Paul describes, “His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are..”. I know I’m saved because I believe that Jesus died for my sin(s), and I know that one must believe for salvation without feeling, but It seems that Paul is saying more than just believing.  Any Christian who wants to write to me about this may do so; be rough with me; I can take it.   Adele and I were picked to be the Seniors of Fairland most likely to succeed. Adele went on to paint Rockefeller, Chuck Yeager, and many more. As you can see, I was not as prolific, but I certainly am thankful for my life and the many blessings I’ve had. I have not deserved them, and I certainly do not take them for granted. That picture of me sitting in my Aunt Beulah’s glider is the best. Please stop by when you come to Florida and sit here on the bank of the Hillsborough River and tell me about yourself.   Neither my dad nor I were businessmen in our lives, but my two grown kids, Deb and Dan have great traditions from their grandfathers. My grandfather Rood sold vegetables on the street and then later sold 5-cent fish sandwiches from a horse drawn wagon on 8th street and 3rd avenue in Huntington. He made enough money to buy several rent houses and retire very early for those days. Before it became fashionable to jog and walk, in his latter years he walked almost every day from 30th street downtown to the market. Liz’s dad was an entrepreneur for sure. He started out with a tiny store in El Dorado and grew it into a money maker similar in size to the IGA stores. I can’t believe how much money my mom and dad saved and neither of them ever made over 6-8 dollars per hour. They have left us more money than most. Dad once opined that he had lost 5000 dollars of the “Lord’s money” in the stock, but he made far more than that on other deals.   My mother is now (2005) 91 and I recently took her back to her birthplace at “Barn Run in Braxton County WV just to see how far she had come. Now I let her help me on odd jobs here and at Thonotosassa and I tell her that it’s a LONG WAY from Barn Run to I-4 in Tampa and she agrees and says Praise the Lord.   I could keep going, but I need to start writing out my funeral. I’m not planning to go tomorrow, but like Reagan, I want there to be some content besides that horrible song, Beyond the Sunset, and at this point I don’t believe I want to be opened. I would like to be cremated and have half my ashes in the Hillsborough River (the river I swim in) and half of them in the Bosphorus (in Istanbul), but I don’t want to do it because of the fact that so many Eastern religions give a religious meaning to it, and I don’t want to be associated with that. (But for those who DO want to be cremated, I believe that Jesus will raise you up during the resurrection just as he will everyone else). He can put potassium, carbon, calcium, etc together from anywhere.   In the meantime would the rest of you please write your life story and send it to me. Im enjoying so much living in the past and I would like to read yours. (Today I cant live in the past, because Ive got to go to Deborah’s and work on the plumbing). Biographies are now my favorites. I’ve enjoyed the following biographies and documentaries the last few years: Bernard Baruch, Whittaker Chambers (Witness), Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal (The Fountainhead), Henry Luce, Jim Baker, Donald Trump, Chuck Yeager, Patti Davis, Lorrie Morgan, Rabin, Sedat, Ataturk, Ray Charles, Roy Cohn, Frank Weaner, David Horowitz, Anthony Rossi (Tropicana), Patricia Neal, Boone Pickens, John Foster Dulles, Cotton Mather, Pat Buchanan, Raymond Lull, Richard Dortch, Dr. Viggo Olsen, etc. Wow, I wish I had read these when I was 20. Now would you please send me your Bio?       Roy Rood, 813 899 1268 royerood@verizon.net 4823 Riverhills Tampa, FL 33617                 11:50:39 AM | Permalink December, 2006 Yandim Yar This video of Necla singing Yandim Yar is old but the AUDIO is still good. Please call her and ask her for musaade for me to keep this on YouTube.. It is so good                                  see ya            roy and liz    YouTube  Broadcast Yourself™ royerood wants to share the following video with you:  Double Click on this photo       Thanks, royerood Using YouTube YouTube Help Check the Help Center for answers to common questions. Your Account Settings To change your preferences, settings, or personal info, go to the ‘My Account’ section. Email Notifications To change or cancel email notifications from YouTube, go to the Email Options section of your Profile.     Using YouTube YouTube Help Check the Help Center for answers to common questions. Your Account Settings To change your preferences, settings, or personal info, go to the ‘My Account’ section. Email Notifications To change or cancel email notifications from YouTube, go to the Email Options section of your Profile.             royerood@verizon.net   6:01:22 PM | Permalink September, 2006 Turkiye Trip 2005                                A Summary of our Recent Trip to Turkiye (summer 2005)   From: Roy and Elizabeth Rood, 813 899 1268 royerood@verizon.net                                      4823 Riverhills, Tampa, FL, 33617   To: our former students and friends in Turkiye and our friends here in the states who might be interested. For most of you this is being sent via BCC so that your email addresses are not going all over the world, and some of you may want to skip to the bottom just to see if your names were mentioned, and thus you won’t have to read through all this stuff. I tried 2-3 other free websites but I like this one a little better. If you want to do one too, click at the top where it says, “Get your own space”.   Double Click on Necla Hanims Yandim Yar         http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhG1ES9SdjU Liz felt strongly that we should go and it turned out great, but as some of you know I was afraid to go to Turkiye (the middle east etc). My students assured me that there would be no problems but if you’ve ever been to the Sali Pazar or a village market you know how many people there are and how close they are. Also, it didn’t make sense to me that both of the big events scheduled were on the same day. Anyway we went.   My friend Derya met us at the airport along with Muzaffer and some others, and we stayed with him, Nermin, and Arda. Arda is good at computers, so he made me several disks of Loreena McKenna, the Irish singer that is so popular in Turkiye. Nermin and Derya did a lot to make our stay so enjoyable. Derya is the one student that has written me more than any others, and I’m so thankful for his friendship. Again we visited his fathers shop where he and his father made ceramics for many years and where Derya still does his translation and some of his architectural work.   We went to the 50th anniversary of Kadikoy Maarif Koleji (now Anadolu Lisesi) where I taught in 1965-67. There we met maybe 40 students and then afterward met with several more in a restaurant in Moda, an old section of Istanbul very near the school. Derya had planned it so well. In my speech I mentioned several of the highlights of the good ole days and of course I had to sing the only Turkish song I know, Saray Yolu. The stuck up Turks at the next table enjoyed it too I hope. Sedat and Mehmet told me of their escapades with my tests and I laughed a lot.   My former students do not believe that Turkiye will ever join the common market; they say, however, that they believe the changes Turkiye is making to meet the requirements are making Turkiye a better nation. They agree with many that Yolsuzluk (corruption) is the biggest problem in Turkiye, but they don’t know what to do about it. I, for one, am praying almost daily for another Ataturk, a man strong enough to go into the villages and say that yolsuzluk in the govt will be kicked out(”Yani Yolsuzluk nefret ederiz”). They say it will never happen, but I remind them that prayer changes things and that the Berlin wall came down in my lifetime when I was sure it never would. I told the students that I hoped Turkiye would not (taklit etmek) that is imitate American music (MTV, VH1, Eminem, those awful, immoral MF words, etc). They assured me that it was probably too late for me to hope that. ooh   I was disappointed that I could not see Nuri Bey and Vehbi Bey even though I tried hard. Maybe next time. At the reunion I did get to see Basara Hanim(Lutfu Bey’s wife) and Munever Hanim. Later I also enjoyed seeing Nevber Hanim at her apartment. She remembered Daniel and Deborah, and the friends that were with me enjoyed Nevber so much. They said her Turkish was mukemmel and she was as sharp and witty as ever. Her parents sacrificed to send her to England as a young girl to study English. And then a another surprise; Muammer Hanim, one of our former secretaries at Maarif, came in from an adjacent apartment. We also found Teoman Bey at his hotel in Pendik. You will remember than he was a handsome man. At 80 HE IS STILL HANDSOME. Nevber I have to tell this because it is so funny. On my yellow pad, it says, “Visit Nevber Hanim’s grave”. The nite before I left, with no hope at all, I asked a friend to call the number on the 3×5 card I’ve had for 40 years. Her long-time friend, Saniye, answered and Nevber asked, “WHY HAVEN’T YOU BEEN HERE TO SEE ME BEFORE THIS?” I didn’t answer; I did not want to say, “Nevber they told me we had lost you”. We are so happy we were able to see her again. This is the funniest and best story I have from the trip and I’m going to keep my yellow pad so I can remember Nevber. We love her so much.   On the first Sunday we went to a church in Moda (a beautiful church built by some of the wealthy Anglicans there in the 20s. Later we visited Derya’s mother in Tuzla. She worked hard as a teacher and made sure that Derya had what he needed in school. Later we visited Sean and Yuksel , our neighbors on Sifa Sokak 40 years ago, and of course we missed being with Fahrunissa and Perihan.   One of the highlights for me was finding the house in Balarbasi where Thomas Cosmodes, a good friend, was born 80 years ago. It was a wood structure standing alone at that time with a good view of the Bosphorus in the background. The wood is still the same, but of course big apartments are built on either side of it. I enjoyed thinking about the history of the place and about Thomas being raised there. Hope you enjoy the photos. One of the students, Gurtay Kipcik, is responsible for 34 countries with Coca Cola, so Cemal and I enjoyed congratulating him and having our pictures made with him.   Deborah Zeynep asked that because of the danger that I not visit the villages as I so much wanted to do, however I did have Muzaffer take us to Alpagut, the village we visited 9 years ago. The same grocery owner, Muhittin, was there and we had a good time visiting with him and his friends. Nine years ago Muhittin said to me, “Bu cay sizing nasipiniz; onun ucun geldiniz buraya”. That meant, “This tea is your appointment from God, and that’s why you’re here”. Now you see why I wanted to go back. He brought out fresh cucumbers and salt and they were so good! Yahya wanted us to visit his garden on the way back, so we did and we enjoyed sampling his mulberries, apricots, nar (pomegranates) and pears. We “lost” two days there in Eskisehir when I got sick with dizziness. But it wasn’t lost because Muzaffer and Sennur were able to nurse me back to health with massages and medicines.   We enjoyed so much spending a week with Aynur and her parents, Halil and Ayse. They fixed us everything, especially gozleme (pida bread with feta cheese and parsley) yum yum. Halil had the apartments built several years ago and theirs is on the top floor. I wish I had taken a photo from there showing the older apartments with so many modern satellite antennas on top. We also were treated to Cig kofte by Oner and Emine, their daughter. The wedding of Andy and their daughter Oznur was beautiful. We have invited their other daughter, Nuray, to come to America and stay with us and learn English just as Ilknur, Onur, Aynur, Oznur, and Ilknur have done. (Nur means light from God) Yea. One night we practiced the new Turkish song I’m learning. Neveser. The next day Aynur and Oner took us on a great trip and dinner to Ortakoy, the Bosphorus, and Beyoglu where we saw some of those 100-year old wooden apartments 6 and 8 stories high. How did they go up and down those steps every day? We went up on the 2nd floor of one of them that had been made into a kafe house. I refused to pay $4 for a cup of coffee, so I ruined Liz and Aynur’s day. Maybe I will ask for forgiveness later. Yes. Another highlight was visiting Turkiye’s only small diesel engine factory, one of the partners being a former student, Deniz Sevki Kayabay. (Isn’t the internet an unbelievable miracle! I wasn’t sure how to spell his last name, so I clicked on kayabay.com and viola, there it was). Deniz has the parts moulded in Ankara and they machine them there in his plant in Istanbul. I believe I counted over 3000 of this favorite DVDs on his website. He also bought an old hotel near the center of Istanbul and renovated it; it is beautiful. If you visit Istanbul, be sure to visit the Vardar Hotel near Taksim.   An unexpected blessing was a visit to Robert College (on the same campus with Bogazici Universitesi) where we had a week of Turkish lessons 40 years ago. (I forgot to look up Meral Hanim, the Fulbright Association, so we must see her next time). I don’t usually read books on vacation, but I did buy a book on the founders of this first American college outside the USA, and I was so encouraged by reading of Cyrus Hamlin and how he started it, started a metals shop to support the poorer students, started them baking bread (enough to fed Florence Nightingale’s patients at Selimiye (20,000 loaves/day)), and how he made washing machines with beer barrels, enough to wash the clothes of 3000 patients, and how he oversaw the contruction of Hamilin Hall, the first building. Hamlin was way ahead of his time; unlike his own missionary society, he believed that it was necessary for the missionaries to train students in English, and he won them over. While I was visiting inside Hamlin Hall, Elizabeth struck up a lively conversation with a Communist student outside. When I arrived she seemed to be holding her own pretty well. On the subject of good and evil(which of course he doesn’t believe in) I faced him with the subject of human torture of other humans, and he didn’t have a very good answer in my opinion. (It’s obviously from Satan, but he only believes in DNA/RNA etc).   One of the funniest things occurred on my way down from Istiklal to Karakoy. Just after buying some curas for our friends, I met a lady beggar and gave her a dollar, and I then tried to “encourage” her by asking, “Neden Callmiyorsun? Yarin calmak lazim”. I thought I was saying “Why are you not playing (an instrument); tomorrow play here”. Everybody around us laughed of course because I forgot that calmak also means steal, so I was asking her, “Why are you not stealing?” Ha Ha. She of course was excusing herself, mumbling, “Allah, Allah, hic bir yapamam” etc, so she probably didn’t get to enjoy the joke on me. I hope when I visit there the next time she will be playing a tambourine or something. My favorite photo from years ago is a Turkish cripple at Mahmut Pasa begging, yes, but also working, playing his tambourine.   One sacred scene for all of us occurred one Sunday in a church in Moda. I purposely sat next to a Turk, so that when it came time for communion, I could stay back with him and he would not be embarrassed by not going forward. Wow was I ever surprised! When it came time, he excused himself past me and went forward. I was the one who was left behind. Yes, he wasn’t thinking about what other people would think. He did what he thought he should.   We especially enjoyed visiting Celal Yahyaoglu’s lab where he certifies diamonds and other precious stones. I am especially proud of him because he has overcome many obstacles and discouragements to become a success. We here in America have no idea of the obstacles some of the students have overcome. One of my friends there did an experiment. He purposely decided to try to get a hunting license WITHOUT BRIBING ANYONE. It took three months If he had bribed them, he would have been out of there in a few hours. That’s what some of these Turks have to face daily. Celal remember what I said about coming to stay with us for awhile.   Derya, Nerman, Cemal, and Refika treated us to a wonderful meal at a famous restaurant in Uskudar, yes, the same place the song Uskudar is named for. After that we went to an outdoor restaurant in an area that Derya had surveyed for restoration. Yes, the Bosphorus is beautiful at nite. Cemal and Refika also took us to the top of Camlica to an area where the new Prime Minister, Erdogan Bey, has bought for the public so that all can enjoy it. Yea. Even though they cost a lot of borrowed money, the new autobans done during the days of Ozal have certainly made traffic in Istanbul a lot more enjoyable.   The last time I mentioned Turgay Ozkan he was with the Turkish Export-Import Bank and later with the World Bank, but now he is partners in a construction company in Ankara, and we enjoyed our visit with him and his wife and son. I asked if he liked the bubble gum I bought, and Turgay assured me that I now had a friend for life. At the same time we visited Ahmet Mete Saatci, one of Turgay’s best friends, who is now head of the Environmental Engineering Dept at the Goztepe branch of Marmara Universitesi. Several of his MSc and PhD students explained their projects to us. Most of them are in the area of biological treatment of wastewater, especially in the area of toxic organic chemicals. I wish we had Mete Bey here in Tampa to consult with on our non-operating desalination plant. He built several of them during his engineering stay in Arabia. It’s been a long journey for these two students from the science fairs at Amerikan Kiz Koleji in Uskudar to where they are today. Wow! Oh yes, Mete remembered that Daniel at the age of three said, “Yesterday I goed….” (instead of “I went”). Thus you can see that Dan had a logical mind quite early. I wish the people responsible for the English language would be logical too and change it. We should be saying, I goed, I bringed, I teached, etc, and it would make English so easy to learn. Even our 5 year old Rebekah is was smart enough to say, “We flyed to Vermont”.   Mete also remembers that I showed them their first outside air conditioner on a field trip to a factory. Wow, how did he remember that. He also remembers one of our seminar speakers discussing Brownian motion. Good memory, huh?   It was good to visit Fersen Kinayigit, his wife, Guzin, and learn of their successful careers. Fersen was plant manager of a fiberglas company for 30 years and Guzin was in environmental water research for several years. Their daughter, Ekin’s English is quite good, and she is a 2nd year university student. Their other daughter in Columbus was beaten up by two Russian students because she is Moslem. I hope our homeland security efforts will start profiling these terrorists before they commit such crimes again and I hope those two Russian students will be punished severely. Praise the Lord, Fersen is not bitter.   Fersen remembers visiting us in our apartment when I drew a chalk line in the floor and told Dan not to cross over it. There were breakable things on the other side. Fersen also says he first drank iced tea at our place. One night unknown to our student visitors, Liz had put too much salt in the pilav. They forced it down, and one of them, trying to be polite as all Middle Easterners are, said, “Mrs. Rood your pilav is so good, uponwhich she immediately gave all of them another big spoonful. Ooh. Fersen also remembers me writing the prefixes of the first few carbon chains on the stovepipe so they could use them on the test to give other compounds. I’m so glad I did that.   We learned a new Turkish word this time, mutevarzi. Some Turkish people, just like many Americans, have a pride that is not good. It’s called Yuksek Burnu (stuck up) and it’s very destructive to relationships, but many Turks are mutevarzi, humble, not anxious to show off, and it is so good to see. I don’t mean they let people run over them; I’m speaking of their overall attitude that is one of putting others first. That is so kool.   One of my favorite songs is Yandim Yar by Necla Akben. I tried everywhere to find that CD. If anyone locates her, please send us her email or info on a CD with that song. I also tried to find Tarik Akan (Yol), the three blind singers of Sabuha, and Hulya Kocyigit, but I couldn’t locate them to tell them how much I’ve appreciated their work.   Attila, I am so happy that you were able to stand the govt work for 30 years. That shows you have a lot of sabir(patience). You too Cengiz; you were able to work for the govt a long time too. Tebrik ederim (congratulations) to Nezih Okan, Metin, Handan, Sedat, Recep, Mehmet, Halit, Cengiz Surmeli, and Derya for your success in the business world even though you have faced unbelievable obstacles. Yine, Tebrik Ederim. Handan is their favorite because she was the only girl in the class and they still look up to her.(or shall we say they just look at her). Yes Halit thanks for traveling so far to be there. I remember you as being a very good student. Metin, Elizabeth is still praying for your eyes and your general health. Yes. Sedat thanks so much for your invite to Corlu; I didn’t respond because Nuri Bey was not able to be in his village. Hamdi and Leyla, thanks so much for the good dinner, and bilhassa the 3 hours of talking together. The Lord has certainly rewarded your efforts. Thomas and Lila, thanks for sending me the photos of the dogu evi; it was a big highlight of the trip for me. I think I know Uskudar a little better now. Hakan(Bilgiseven), Ali, Ahmet, and Murat, thanks for waiting for me at Fenerbahce so I could see you. Please give me love to all in the class of ’71. Please write me and tell me the results of your race in Bodrum. Ahnet(Calgan) please try to remember the names of the students I met at Talas Boregi and send me their email addresses, OK? I have my book so I can match up your names with their faces. I was so overcome with emotion that I didn’t take the names. Ayse thanks for letting us visit the borsa (stock market). I’m sorry that flash bulb went off when it wasn’t supposed to, so I hope your Mudur Bey was not mad at you. Your English is so good; you must have learned a lot at Uskudar Kiz. Zehra Hanim thanks for all the hard work you did in teaching all those years and helping Fikri and Derya. In colloquial English we say “YOU DID GOOD”. I have promised to pray especially for Harun, the discouraged taxi driver, Mohammad, the sharp engineer at the Internet Café, Ahmet, the driver in Bebek, Mehmet (near Cemal), and others. I hope I will remember. Bulent (Ortacgil), I am so sorry I missed you concert in Istanbul with Hulya Olcay. I’m sure it was a good one. One of the newer students at Anadolu Lisesi, Delarim, gave me the School Newsmagazine which featured you in a big newspread this year. Tebrik ederim. Burak (Aksiray), Derya and I went to your former residence hoping to find you and Emel. Hope to see you next time. 12/05: Thanks for getting back in touch with us. I am going to add more photos to my website and more writing to this summary in the future as I remember more of our visits. I’m sure I’ve forgotten some because I just turned 71, DOUBLE CLICK ON THE PHOTOS IF YOU WANT TO COPY ONE ALSO PLEASE SEND ME SOME MORE KADIKOY MAARIF PHOTOS FOR ME TO POST HERE.   DOUBLE CLICK ON A PHOTO IF YOU WANT TO COPY IT, THEN HIT X IF YOU WANT TO GET BACK.     3:49:10 AM | Permalink | View trackbacks (1) save and copy photos  Gurtay, I still have my Coca Cola Watch         thanks          roy  If you dont see your photo here, it may be in one of the other  photo albums on one of the stories, My Life Story, Turkiye 2005 Trip, etc   Bulent     We missed your Istanbul concert in July by only one day.  Congratulations on your success. Tebrik ederiz.    To make one of these little photos bigger, double click on them. Then to get back to the web page, you will have to hit       the X  at top right.          To save one of these photos to your machine, right click and choose  “Save picture as”, choose the folder you want it in, and hit “Save”.  If you happen to lose the web page, hit the X at the top right to get back.              3:20:00 AM | Permalink August, 2006 A Soldier Has Fallen Former residents will miss ‘fallen soldier’ To the Editor: A soldier has fallen, and we will miss her very much. Long before I became aware of Americas hellbent race toward socialism, Rachel McKinney had already fought big government in several battles. Yes, today we have several competent young people on TV and on the campuses battling big government, but when Rachel began, it was only she, Bill Buckley, and one or two</