Eighteen years young at the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy with Mike Friedman (to my right) and Cecil Guess (to my left) in November 1962, on our way to Barcelona, Spain.
We had just spent three weeks in Rome, where we had the opportunity to be an Italian movie called the Forbidden Cities. We were in a scene playing teenagers dancing in a New York City Bomb Shelter. That's where we met Cecil, Guess. At first, when I met Cecil I thought he was trying to be smart with me. I first asked, "What is your name?" and he said, "guess!"
Mike and I worked all summer after graduating from High School, saved our money and then hitch-hiked from the edge of Walla Walla to New York. It took 20 rides and four and a half days later until we arrived at the Staten Island Ferry, at about 6 AM in the morning!
Mike needed to come back after six months, but I stayed until early June 1963. There is a book on this journey that I am writing, but time is short! — in Pisa, Italy.
