Ann Shepard (Rueve)

In 1963 we had a variety show and auction put on to raise money for AFS (American Field Service) student exchange program. Rosie Buyninski's parents put up a little black and white puppy for auction. My Mom (at my insistance) won the bid. (I think they could have raised more, but the auctioneer took pity on me and stopped the bidding so I could have him). I named him Max (imillian J. Griswald Tipton Shepard III, esq.). He was with me from age 16 to age 30. My parents said I only came home from college to see Max. Even when I started working and got my own apartment, I went "home" just about every day to see my dog. Here is a picture from 1971.

Steven Levinson

Phil:  The Shubert may have been a bit askew, but I don't think I was aware of those things.  I believe that, during elementary school years, Children's Theater was performed there once a year.  At Lotspeich School, we fifth and sixth graders would all wear our grey flannel suits and finest frocks, get on the bus, drive downtown, and watch that idiotic drivel.  It taught me that I wanted to see some REAL theater, the grown up kind.  So I did as soon as possible, but mostly at Playhouse in the Park.  The Taft Theater was a grand place.  One felt as hallowed as it did just by entering it.  Cincinnati was indeed a greater theater city.  But I wasn't aware, I don't think, of the Cinerama Theater's earlier history.  Remember the Royal (??) Theater, next to the old Gaiety Burlesque?  Never got in there (the Gaiety, that is), but the legends about it abounded.  My needs were met by the three RKOs and the Keith on the four sides of the Fifth (Fountain Square)/Vine/Sixth/Walnut Street block.  (And the Frische's Big Boy next to the Albee!) 

Steven Levinson

Phil:  I believe that Playhouse in the Park did a production of A man for all Seasons as well.  It was also the first theater production that Lynn and I saw in Honolulu back in 1972, followed shortly thereafter by a fabulous production of Jacques Brel Ia Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

Helen Sayrs (Hurley)

RE: Elementary school -- I went to College Hill with:  Cindy Ault, Barbie Bertsch, Judy Bosken, Sandy Ebert, Margie Erhardt, Fred Hoeweler, Julie Lavercombe, Sharon McAllister, Churchill McKinney, Kristi Ottesen, Tina Preuninger, Margaret Sait, Mary Jo Smith, Judi Ward, and Robert Westbrook.  I hope I didn't miss anyone.

Larry Klein

Philip Spiess

Hank, if you add a letter to the alphabet, my guess is you're just trying to keep abreast of the times.

Rick, the name of that comedian is undoubtedly the wildest stage name I've ever seen.

Steve, very few know it any more, but at the back of the Keith Theater was the old Fountain Square Theater (unused, unless it had been incorporated into Keith's); its front facade, complete with dramatic bas-relief medallions of stage characters, was on the alley that ran north from Fountain Square in the middle of the block (near Potter's Shoes).  That whole block was torn down for the present expanded Fountain Square.  Also near the Albee was one of the B/G lunchrooms, famous for the quality of the mayonnaise on its triple-decker sandwiches, and "the home of the bottomless cup" (of coffee).

Steven Levinson

Rick:  I would be astounded if John Lazarus ever attended North Avondale School, although he did live right down the street and up the Big Hill from it on Clinton Springs.  He was about as quintessentially Lotspeich/Country Day/Dartmouth as one could get, albeit a very solid, decent, and nice person at the same time!

Philip Spiess

Okay, so here is my calculated roster of students from Clifton School who attended WHHS (I really had to work hard at this, because it seems like I've known so many of you forever, so I had to double-check with myself as to how long I had actually gone to school with some of you):

Vicki Baker; Gary Beck; Peter Crockett; Donald Dahmann; Douglass Dupee; Sally Fox; Tom Gottschang; Frances Grace; Jane Hammond; Stephan Pahner; Becky Payne; David Ransohoff; Richard Ransohoff; Philip Spiess; Robert St. John; James Stillwell; Tami Tate; Albert Weihl; Cathy Welsh.

[Uncertain about:  Robert Cook -- he was from Clifton, but I think he came in later, and so didn't attend Clifton School; ditto on Michael Lichstein; David Mitzel I'm not sure about.]

My apologies to anyone I've overlooked or misremembered or misrepresented.  Philip Spiess, Robert St. John, Tami Tate, and Cathy Welsh were all in the same morning carpool, so I'm sure of them (we took the school bus home in the afternoon, and the first day I got to drive the carpool to WHHS all by myself, I was halfway home on the bus in the afternoon before I remembered my car was still parked at the school; I had to get off at Samuel Ach School and walk all the way back to Walnut Hills to get it).  Philip Spiess, Don Dahmann, Tom Gottschang, Robert St. John, and Jim Stillwell were the inseparable Clifton Five, in Scouts and elsewhere, so I know we were all at Clifton School together!  I'll never forget our Scout Troop 3 campout and hike in October, 1963, in the Hocking State Parks in eastern Ohio.  At lunch, Tom got too close to the cliff edge, the leaves and moss gave way, and he went over a 50-foot drop, breaking his back (we had a hell of a time getting him out and to the hospital in Chillicothe, about 20 miles away).  His friend Jim, who had an English essay to write, sensing a potential story, called down to him, "Tom, how did that feel?"  -- Tommy was in a body cast for three months as I recall. 

Nancy Messer

North Avondale 6th grade class - one of 3 classes.

Philip Spiess

Steve:  I also went to the Children's Theater in 4th Grade (I think you're right, at the Shubert); what I remember is a dreary production about Montezuma.  A much brighter experience, 4th through 6th Grades, were the Children's Symphonies at Music Hall, with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Thor Johnson.  I still remember a performance of the William Tell Overture:  when they ripped through the famous finale, Frannie Grace was bouncing ecstatically up and down in her seat, nearly upsetting the kids on either side of her.  And that was also when I started attending the Zoo Opera:  beginning in 4th Grade, interested children could get reduced-price tickets for selected operas (as I recall the most expensive tickets were -- ha-ha! [Nelson take note!] -- $4.95!).  The first opera I ever saw (there) was von Flotow's opera Marta, a charming opera, scarcely ever done these days, though its famous aria, "M'Appari," is still heard, most notably in the movie Breaking Away (1979), about the Indiana University bicycle races.

Larry Klein

Yep, Home Ec was another thing I missed at WH (no apologies here), but I do still have my USMC issued sewing kit, and I can sew on a button almost as fast as I can dissemble and re-assemble a .45.

Doug Gordon

I went to Kennedy-Silverton and as I recall we sent a pretty good sized contingent to WHHS. I remember a few specific people, but would have to go through the yearbook to come up with a more complete listing. Leaving on a trip shortly, but may try this when I get back (unless someone else wants to take a stab at it).

Barbara Kahn (Tepper)

Mary Jane Junk

I may be doing this wrong because the topics seem to be all together but anyway, Mary Jane Junk seemed to be the wrong person to teach home ec. She was devoid of personality and made it loathsome to me.  All of you who say your apron/skirt was the worst were wrong! Mine was definitely the worst in the class.  I couldn't work the machine and I had no feel for sewing.  I knew how to sew with needle and thread already but could never get the hang of the sewing machine.  

As for cooking, we know now with The Foodnetwork etc. that cooking can be fun and exciting.  Miss Junk's main purpose seemed to be that her students could make a perfect white sauce.  I suppose it eventually became creamed peas but I never liked peas either.  It was a totally different world!

Gail Weintraub (Stern)

Home Ec: In this class we learned to make and eat Junk food!--long before it became in vogue.

Margery Erhardt (Schrader)

Home Ec – I never forgot Ms. Junk. Several girls I know went into Home Economics but I never had a positive thought about that area of endeavor. The food was horrible (did we only have ourselves to blame?) and sewing the skirt was simply awful. Now that did change me. When I earned my first money (Omaha, Neb.) I immediately went out and bought a Singer sewing machine. I started sewing and loved it. When we moved to Europe I was in heaven for the fabrics there were out of this world. I started creating my own fashion and did so until moving to Texas. No more Ms. Junk problems after that!

Sally Fox (Korkin)

I am a proud Clifton School alum!  Debbie King was also from Clifton School.  Can't remember if anyone else is missing from Phil's list.  Many of us took the bus toether to Walnut Hills.  My bus stop was at the corner of McAlpin and Ludlow and one morning I missed the bus and Mrs. Renfrow, who lived somewhere near there, took me to school that day!

Steven Levinson

Phil:  I agree that Children's Symphony was the superior experience.  Thor Johnson had the iconic status of George Burns in Oh God!  Remember when 8th grader Jimmy Levine was the guest piano soloist?  I can assure you that David Ransohoff never spent a day as a student at Clifton School.  Lotspeich School all the way, just like me.  And, finally, with respect to what was behind the Keith Theater in days of yore, and bearing in mind that you are a cultural historian, how is it possible that you know all this stuff?  I wouldn't have thought it humanly possible!

Steven Levinson

Phil:  Robert Cook moved onto Rawson Woods Circle around the 10th grade.  Mike Lichstein moved to Cincinnati with his family (Mike, correct me if I'm wrong)  from Oak Ridge, Tennessee in post-elementary school times.  His father, Dr. Herman Lichstein, had been instrumental in cooking up some mighty leathal chemical weapons.  During 11th and 12th grades, I car-pooled both of them to WHHS, along with Helen Bettman. 

Philip Spiess

Steve:  I wasn't sure about David Ransohoff, but I did go to Clifton School with Dick Ransohoff.  As to my "knowing all this stuff," the answer is simple:  Caroline Williams.  She was an incredible Cincinnati artist who, for almost 35 years or more, weekly drew a wonderful picture for the Sunday Cincinnati Enquirer entitled "A Spot in Cincinnati," wherein she'd locate a little-known but interesting piece of Cincinnati history and draw it.  Periodically she'd publish these in books (1938, 1939, early 1960s).  I became entranced with her drawings at an early age;  starting at about the age of 11, on my birthday I'd insist we take the books and drive around the city, looking up the spots.  Later on, in college, I started photographing them.  Throughout high school and college, I constantly prowled the city, particularly downtown on Saturdays, studying architecture, studying landmarks, learning the history of the city.  This served me well in the 8 years I worked for the Cincinnati Historical Society (particularly identifying old photographs), and how, when I was at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, I developed my two-projector slide lecture on "Reading the City as Cultural Artifact" (though I mainly used Alexandria, Va., for that).  Alas, as the 1970s rolled on, many of these old spots and landmarks disappeared, though I had the memories and the pictures, but this is what drove me into a career in historic preservation.  I'll conclude this tale by mentioning that in 1983, I was asked to be the keynote speaker for the dedication of the Cincinnati Suspension Bridge as a "National Historic Engineering Landmark" by the National Park Service, and I gave my speech on the building of the bridge at a dinner on the upper deck of the Mike Fink steamboat, with the Suspension Bridge lit up in the background. 

Philip Spiess

I don't want to monopolize this Forum, but mentioning Saturdays in downtown Cincinnati reminded me of a Dale Gieringer story.  Often Don Dahmann and I would go downtown on Saturdays to the philatelic and numismatic stores, as well as to "Acres of Books" and Ohio bookstores, but sometimes Dale Gieringer and I, like many others of you, I dare say, would find ourselves of a Saturday afternoon in the large "History & Literature" Department of the main Cincinnati Public Library (the one next to the Gaiety), researching papers for good old WHHS.  One Saturday in our Senior year, Dale and I, and I believe Dennis Montgomery (a year behind us), were in that department doing more horsing around than researching.  Most books requested from the card catalogues were in the stacks, and so one would submit a paper slip request to the librarian with author, title, and call number, and of course one's name.  Dale submitted a slip for an authentic book, but with the student name of "Calvin Kauphardt."  Now, of course, this was a good Cincinnati German-looking-and-sounding name, but one with the unfortunate German pronunciation of "Cow Fart"!  When the book came up from the stacks, the tight-bunned (hair, you guys!) spinster librarian kept walking around calling out, "Cow Fart!  Calvin Cow Fart!  Book for Cow Fart!"  Of course, no one claimed the book, so she kept at it for over half an hour.  Soon the whole room, mostly students, was rolling and screaming with laughter.  But of course there was no identifiable miscreant that the librarians could throw out!  

Steven Levinson

Damn, Phil, you are a marvel!  I find it astounding that 35 years ago I was already very long gone from Cincinnati.  One of life's ironic intersections is that David and Dick Ransohoff's uncle, Dan Ransohoff, was the self-designated Cincinnati "Ambassador of Good Will" in the 1950s and 1960s. You've run circles around him.

Larry Klein

Ann - saw your list of elementary schools - neat!  And I do remember both of my music teachers. Miss Klett from Kilgour and Mrs. Rose from Lincoln.  Led by Mrs. Rose in 5th grade, I did a solo for the school PTA of Adeste Fidelis in LATIN before I even knew what Latin was.  Guess I got a jump on the rest of you at Walnut.

Steve - yes, Phil (and you) is but one of the multitude of hidden and latent gems that sprung from the experiences and diverse talents of our Class of '64.  Never ceases to amaze me that I actually graduated somewhere in the middle of this class.

Philip Spiess

Larry, your own diverse talents are emerging through the comments on these pages.  I wish I'd known you better in high school.  (And though you got the jump on us, at the end of my career I was singing "Adeste Fideles" in Latin to my 6th Grade students.)

And, does ANYONE remember that before "High on the Hill," the alma mater of WHHS was "Semper Fidelis forever / Forever loyal to Walnut Hills High"?  I had learned it from my mother (and thus was very surprised to learn there was a different song when I got to Walnut Hills).  It was still printed as an alternative song in the little blue orientation booklet we were given as entering "Effies."  Admittedly, "High on the Hill" is a more stately song ("Semper Fidelis" was more half way between alma mater and fight song).  And of course we all remember the two fight songs, "Keep Fighting for Us, Blue & Gold" and "March on to Victory, / We're the team that never says die," don't we?  On the rare occasions when WHHS actually won a football game, we in the band (John _____?, Lynwood Battle, and Norman Raflo among our Drum Majors), would march back and forth from one goal post to the other, alternating the playing of these two fight songs.

Steve:  I knew Dan Ransohoff slightly; he used to drop in at the Cincinnati Historical Society on occasion, sometimes looking for pictures (or I'd run into him at "Acres of Books").  And I mentioned elsewhere that my two bosses at the Smithsonian Institution (not why I was hired!) were Walnut Hills graduates:  my immediate boss, director of the Office of Museum Programs, was Jane Glaser (Class of 1940); and the supervisor of the grant I was working under, director of the Smithsonian Associates Program, was Janet Solinger, who graduated with my mother (Class of 1939; I believe she's in the WHHS Hall of Fame).  The three of us came to be known, in the Smithsonian Castle (i.e., Administration), as "the Cincinnati Mafia" (i.e., "troublemakers" -- all three!). 

And Gail:  Hats off to your glorious pun:  JUNK FOOD!  It fulfills the desired goal of all good puns -- it makes the joke, even as it truly defines the situation!  I hope it will be noticed by all you poor, pitiful females who had to suffer under La Junk that Spiess, Levinson, Hunting, and Abanto (all males) have been happily posting and exchanging their favorite and special cooking recipes without ever having taken Home Ec (although I must admit that my white sauce can usually be used to hang wallpaper!).

Ira Goldberg

Phil, was it Dan Ransohoff who was such a brilliant photographer? I don't know his relationship to our R's. At some point in the 60's he produced dozens of photos for Family Service Assoc. Of America that depicted the difficulties they faced. I think he had been on the Cincy agency's and maybe national org's board back then,

Also, your mention of the Castle, reminds me that my wife used to go to DC for the national social work board to work on regulations and exam questions.  That is where she said they met. In fact, on one trip she got off the Metro on the Mall as the Bomber was in the Monument. A cop - I think one on horseback - told them to take cover. She fumed at him, asking why the H they let the train stop there to begin with! That was my gal!

Back to the point... Not sure who had the access to meeting rooms there, but rest assured or perhaps, regret...she didn't bring home any tales of disrepute about the Cincy mafia. Enthrall us with any legends!

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

Phil and Ira, I have a different Ransohoff connection. "The Dinger" Dick's mother, Sue, was a legend and mentor in adoptions when I was a young caseworker at Hamilton County. Years after she had retired, and I was one of the supervisors in the adoption unit, the agencies that collaborated with ours for adoptive parent recruitment, home studies and placement of special needs children still spoke so well of her.  Hamilton County appointed a presidential Family and Children First Council to monitor consistent policies for all aspects of child welfare. While helping to facilitate focus groups of stake holders, who should be in my group but Sue Ransohoff.  

To carry on the social work connection, Danny Ransohoff's daughter Lela, fresh out of school, came to work investigating child abuse and neglect allegations at our department. I don't remember if. I supervised her but, as I recall, she was part of a group that included Pete's daughter, Fawn Rose.