bearister said:
You are a Renaissance Man. Equally comfortable analyzing a fast break and a French film.
When you look up the term Renaissance Man, there is a picture of Kris Kristofferson there. Most impressive resume I have ever seen….and he accomplished much of it stoned or drunk.
Kris Kristofferson - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kris_Kristofferson
1. While at Pomona College he wrote essays published in Atlantic Monthly;
2. In 1958 while at Pomona College appeared in Sports Illustrated's "Faces in the Crowd" on March 31 for his achievements in collegiate rugby union, American football, and track and field.
3. He graduated in 1958 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, in literature. He was elected to Phi Beta Kappa his junior year.
4. Kristofferson earned a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, studying at Merton College. While at Oxford, he was awarded a Blue for boxing, played rugby for his college, and began writing songs. Kristofferson graduated with a B.Phil. degree in English literature.
5. Kristofferson, under pressure from his family, joined the U.S. Army, was commissioned as a second lieutenant and attained the rank of captain. He became a helicopter pilot after receiving flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. He also completed Ranger School. During the early 1960s, he was stationed in West Germany as a member of the 8th Infantry.
6. The details of his successful successful music and film career are too lengthy to summarize here.
Thanks, Bearister, but you are too kind. Kristofferson is a true Renaissance man. He tried many paths and was an expert in several. I am chopped liver by comparison. I used to consider myself to be a "jack of all trades, master in none", but now I have lived long enough to be a little expert in some, I guess.
Here is another Renaissance Man, whom you may know, because I know you have in interest in jazz music. He was a helluva jazz man, and a Cal Alum to boot - Eddie Henderson.
Eddie was a guard on my first basketball team at Lowell High School in SF. I should have said I was a member of HIS team, as he was the star, while I sat at the far end of the bench. Eddie was named to the All-City team every year at Lowell, both in basketball and in track and field, where he was a sprinter or hurdler, and also tossed the shot put. He had this cool habit: In basketball, one of his traits was to chew on bubble gum during the game to keep his mouth from going dry. When he drove the lane, he used to start blowing a bubble, and as he got closer to the basket the bubble would get bigger. Just as he rose into the air for a floater, right as he let the shot go, he would suck the bubble back into his mouth, so it wouldn't pop, and he could go on chewing, as the ball went through the hoop.
Lowell was the best academic school in the City, and so students didn't have a lot of free time, but Eddie still managed to learn to become a figure skater on the ice, and won trophies, he was so good.
He met Louis Armstrong when he was 9, who gave him his first trumpet lesson, and then was mentored by Miles Davis (a friend of his mother). He went on to enroll at Cal, get a degree in Zoology, and then graduated from Howard Medical School. He eventually became a psychiatrist, while pursuing a career in music. He played for years with Herbie Hancock, and developed his own style.
In the 1970s or 1980s, I remember hearing that he was playing at the Both/And, a jazz club on Divisadero St. I had heard Miles Davis play there before. Eddie was by himself during a break, so I went over to talk with him. I was surprised that he remembered me, as we hadn't really been friends, only teammates many years before. He was really gracious, and he gave me one of his records. We talked for quite a while, reliving the old basketball days, and learning about his career. I should say careers, because not only did he produce a huge amount of recordings, but he continued to practice psychiatry. Some of his patients were musicians, Thellonius Monk for one.
There are lots of his recordings around, and some articles on his life. Here are two:
https://wusfjazz.org/trumpeter-eddie-henderson-at-80-a-renaissance-man/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Henderson_(musician) SFCityBear
