Class Classics for the Class of 1962

The East High Alumni Page
presents

Pictures, memories, memorabilia of specific interest to
the Class of 1962
Please see our Memories page for items of interest to a wider range of alumni.
Class Members: Your contributions to this page are needed!

Bob Frank ('62) and John Murry, songwriters (http://bobfrankandjohnmurry.com/) of their current cd World Without End, with special guest Jim Dickinson, will be playing in Memphis at the Hi Tone Cafe(http://www.hitonememphis.com/about.htm) on December 7, and in Oxford, MS, on December 8, at Proud Larry's. (They will also be on a radio show from Square Books in Oxford, on December 6.)

This would be a good time to see one of our classmates who we haven't seen in 5 years. Let's have a good turnout for Bob like we did a few years ago when he performed at Huey's. Maybe some out-of-town classmates will show up. Shows usually start at 8 or 9 pm. Check Hi Tone's calendar later for actual times.

The Hi Tone Cafe is located at 1913 Poplar near the west end of Overton Park

Here is an interesting story about one of his songs "With Sabers in Our Hands."

A funny story about this song is the one where Bob and some of his high school buddies went to Biloxi, Mississippi, to a Key Club convention back in 1962. Bob didn't take his guitar on this trip, because it was only for one weekend, and he figured he could live without it for that long. As it turned out, there was a talent show at the convention, and Bob's friends urged him to enter it. "But I don’t have a guitar," he said. "Don’t worry," they said. "We’ll get one." They went to a pawn shop and bought this little old handmade piece of crap that had some sort of picture painted on the front of it. It was only about half the size of a real guitar, but it was all they had. It cost about eight dollars and fifty cents. When they got to the talent show, Bob was ready to go on and do his thing, little old piece of crap or not. Then, he noticed that the guy who was going on right after him had this really nice gut string classical guitar. Bob talked the guy into letting him use it, "just for one song. I’ll give it right back after I do my song," he told the guy. The guy was very reluctant to let this stranger use his prize instrument. "I won’t hurt it," Bob said. Finally, the guy relented. "Go ahead," he said, "but don’t mess with the tuning." "Don’t worry," said Bob, "I won’t." Bob went out there and the first thing he realized was, the audience was cold. They needed warming up. Like the fella said, first you gotta get their attention. So Bob told them a good joke. This got them laughing. Then, before they had a chance to regroup, he hit 'em with "Sabers." Seeing as how this was a convention down at the southernmost tip of the southernmost state in the Union, and seeing as how all these boys were Southerners, of course they just naturally were wildly enthusiastic. Bob got a standing ovation.

Does anyone know who his "high school buddies" were??? I may have to look in my annual to see who was in the Key Club that year.

Courtesy of Glen Stewart

East High will probably never again see as colorful a sports figure as Doc Hoffman. Better basketball players may happen upon the Mustang campus—but it is doubtful if any will possess the flair with which he did things.

Doc Hoffman developed into the Prep League legend hoffmand62.jpg (26202 bytes) in his own time. During the two years he led the Mustangs to championships, he also led in the imagination of every Prep League fan.

Some did not like him for his confident air and the way he helped defeat their team. But all respected his ability for getting things done— always the Doc-Hoffman-way.

And the Doc-Hoffman-way consisted of the spectacular.

Listing his remarkable feats is a catalogue of the Prep League basketball season. For an opener, he thrilled a packed Mustang gym in the first league game of the season by scoring ten straight points in the final three minutes for a 55-50 win over Treadwell.

During mid-season he once again captured headlines for his thrilling last-second shot that defeated Central, then the state's No. I team, 65-63. The morning editions of The Commercial Appeal capsuled the final moments: "During those last 13 seconds Hoffman had the overflow crowd of 1,300 at East worked into a frenzy of excitement. He calmly brought the ball up court, circled from the left to the right and with just five seconds left, dropped the basket from about 20 feet away that sent the Warriors reeling with defeat No. 2."

It was in the final league game of the slender senior's career that brought him the most acclaim and caused one Prep League coach of note to say, "That was the finest individual effort I have ever seen on a basketball floor."

The scene was Memphis State University's Memorial Fieldhouse and the occasion was the Prep League championship, pitting Western Division champion Central, bent on avenging the earlier defeat, against Eastern Division winner East High, the defending champion.

More than 4,000 fans packed into the field- house and Hoffman was the whole show, scoring 23 points in a convincing 55-49 victory. During portions of the game the desperate Warriors had three men trying to guard him and time after time he would leap in typical fashion, twist and with seemingly no aim at all, let fly with a destined two-pointer.

Becoming a talent of his caliber, the honors were numerous. He was selected to All-Memphis, All-District 36, All-Region Nine and to the All-State squad—the only Memphian selected for such an honor. It was in the Region Nine tournament that the end of the road came for the valiant Mustangs and Doc Hoffman. In an opening round game, Overton upset East High, 58- 54, for the second straight year and it was mainly because Doc Hoffman spent more than half the game on the training room table with a badly cut knee. For only playing in half a losing opening round game, Doc Hoffman was chosen on the all- tournament team. It was a proper ending to an exciting high school basketball career . . . written expressly for The [1962] Mustang by Charles Cavagnaro, Sports Staff, The Commercial Appeal.