At the end of the elementary program, I then had to move onto high school. Simultaneously, my parents moved to Attica to a suburban area not far from the well-known Attica State Prison. Then I would take the school bus which was a very short distance away, where I was involved with a much larger community.

In thinking back, not having any experience in any other elementary school, there may have been an advantage of being with different age groups to benefit from what they were learning in a more advanced capacity. With a small group like that, there was a lot of one-to-one teaching.

I was there [in school] the full time with one teacher, and the student body was never more than 10 or 12 students of all ages.

At school there were some programs in music. I did take piano lessons, and we had a piano at home. I got very interested in that.

What I adore is mixing the unexpected, things you don't imagine should go together

At home, the radio was a big source and the classic radio programs we would listen to like Amos and Andy and whatever other ones there were.

I became a bit of a teacher's pet, and it became known in the school by both faculty and students that I really excelled in the arts. So that recognition I credit for my growing interest in art that continued to evolve later on.