TRUE TO HIS SCHOOL DUKE'S ALMA MATER TURNING 100 YEARS OLD.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
GLENDALE - How did the Duke - John Wayne - feel about his alma mater ma·ter n. Chiefly British Mother. [Latin m  ter; see m , Glendale High, which will turn 100 next month with a big-bash, all-classes reunion? Let his son, Pat Wayne, tell the story. ``It was 1956, and I was playing football for Loyola High School There are many Loyola High Schools: In Colombia
``Dad showed up at the game and sat on Glendale's side. He gave up his allegiance to his blood son to cheer for his alma mater. So, yeah, I guess you could say Dad had a pretty big soft spot in his heart for Glendale High.'' The Duke. John Wayne. Marion Morrison back in 1925 when he graduated from Glendale. Of course, he went on to become the nation's No. 1 movie star and its poster male for how men were measured in this country. Strong and silent. Wayne didn't start fights. He finished them. The Duke is still Glendale High's most famous alumnus ALUMNUS, civil law. A child which one has nursed; a foster child. Dig. 40, 2, 14. 76 years later, hands down. ``He had this larger-than-life presence, but in reality he was a low-key, down-to-earth guy,'' said Foster Dennis, a 1974 Glendale High graduate, who owns an extensive collection of John Wayne memorabilia that will be on display at the all-classes reunion May 19. Dennis, now president of California Paving and Grading Co. in Eagle Rock, was working in the crew putting in a new driveway at the Duke's home in Newport Beach Newport Beach, residential and resort city (1990 pop. 66,643), Orange co., S Calif., on Newport Bay and the Pacific Ocean; inc. 1906. It is a popular seaside resort and yachting center. Manufactures include electrical and medical equipment, computers, boats, and adhesives. when he met Wayne one summer in 1976. ``He was watching us work one day, and I walked up to him during a break and told him I had graduated from Glendale High,'' Dennis said. ``He smiled and said he had graduated from Glendale, too - like no one knew that. He said he had gone to Wilson Junior High, too - like I had. ``It was like talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to a long-lost cousin. He wanted to know what was still standing and what wasn't. Finally, he just stuck out his hand and said, `Nice talking to you' and walked away. ``I was so impressed by his low-key, easy-going eas·y·go·ing also eas·y-go·ing adj. 1. a. Living without undue worry or concern; calm. b. Lax or negligent; careless. c. personality, I just started collecting all his stuff from that moment on,'' said Dennis, who later struck up a friendship with the Wayne family. The crown jewel Crown jewel A particularly profitable or otherwise particularly valuable corporate unit or asset of a firm. Often used in risk arbitrage. The most desirable entities within a diversified corporation as measured by asset value, earning power, and business prospects; in takeover in his collection - which includes some of Wayne's old cowboy and war movie costumes, a few six-shooters and rifles and even the Duke's last toupee - is a 1973 Pontiac Grand Safari The Grand Safari was Pontiac's large wagon offered from 1971 to 1977. These wagons were unique in that they had a clamshell tailgate design. station wagon that was custom-made for Wayne by General Motors. ``They made the roof six inches higher for him so he could get in wearing his Stetson hat,'' said Dennis, who also has the owner's pink slip on the car with Wayne's name on it. The Duke died at age 72 in 1979 after starring in more than 200 action films, from westerns to war movies. Hard to imagine a major movie star of Wayne's stature today driving around in a 6-year-old station wagon. The Wayne collection is just one of the displays alumni will see as they celebrate the history of a school that opened in 1901 with 29 students in the dining room of the old Glendale Hotel. This year, there are 3,435 students at Glendale, said Julie Shermer, a member of the Glendale High Alumni Association An alumni association is an association of graduates (alumni) or, more broadly, of former students. In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, schools (especially independent schools), fraternities, and sororities often form groups with alumni putting on the 100-year tribute. ``We've had hundreds of alumni from all over the country calling to tell us they were coming home for the reunion, including old band members who will be given the opportunity to play again in this year's band,'' she said. The reunion will be held on Moyse Field, the only part of the campus at Broadway Avenue and Verdugo Road that remains as it was when the original Glendale High School Glendale High School can refer to:
``It's where John Wayne played football under his given name of Marion Morrison,'' Shermer said. Where the Duke returned 31 years later for his son's football game - choosing to give up his allegiance to his own flesh and blood to sit on Glendale's side and cheer for his alma mater. The 100-year, all-class reunion will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. Saturday, May 19, at the school, 1440 E. Broadway Ave., in Glendale. For ticket information call Shermer at (818) 548-0881. CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) MARION MORRISON in 1925 yearbook (2) Foster Dennis shows off his 1973 station wagon that was custom-made for movie star John Wayne, who was Marion Morrison when graduated from Glendale High in 1925. Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer |
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