Denny Knoll

Much to my mother's chagrin, Denny Knoll was one of my best friends throughout high school. We had lockers next to each other in the 400 hall. I remember early in our freshman year when he just happened to wear the same shirt as a senior who also had a locker nearby. It was an uncomfortable situation for both of them. The whole day whenever the senior would approach his locker, Denny would hightail it out of the area because he didn't want to be seen near the guy with the same shirt. Adolescents can be so sensitive.

I first remember meeting Denny in metal shop class in middle school where we hammered out our very own screw drivers from a steel rod. We also sat in the same row in English class. Between us sat one of the most buff (middle school term) kids in the whole school. One day Denny got my attention and showed me a shoelace he had broken off his shoe. Using only hand signals he encouraged me to get the attention of the boy who sat between us. While I spoke with the boy, Denny looped his broken shoelace through the boys belt loop and, without the boy knowing, tied him to the chair.

When the bell rang, Denny and I hopped up from our seats and quickly exited the room. On my way out I barely avoided the grasp of buff boy as he lunged from his seat and tried to grab me. He was stuck!

I know this doesn't seem like a big deal, but trust me, in the 7th grade at Mendenhall Middle School this type of thing was absolutely scandalous. We stayed outside the door to see if Rob would be able to extricate himself. He couldn't. And what made things worse is that the teacher didn't even notice the poor boy's plight. His face turned beet red as the next class period began filing in with him still stuck in his seat.

Feeling a twinge of guilt, I ran to the home economics room, grabbed some scissors without alerting the teacher and then walked back and cut poor Rob loose.

That experience was just a start to the mischief we caused together. Independently, I think we were two decent kids just trying to get through school, but together we turned into boys only mother's could love.

One summer me, Denny and some other boys took bus and BART to an Oakland A's game. We got there early and ordered malts. Denny took his malt lid and deftly slid it between the seat in front of us and a very large man who was sitting in it. All the other boys followed suit and before we knew it this man had five malt lids stuck to his back. Even though there was a bunch of boys sitting behind him and laughing hysterically, the man had no clue about his predicament until he reached to scratch his back.

I have no idea what the man did next because we all ran for our lives. We assumed they might be in danger. It wasn't the only time I had to run for my life when I was with Denny. In fact if I tried counting the times, I would run out of fingers.

My mom is freaking out right now. All her suspicions are being confirmed.

During our senior year, Denny started dating a girl named Betsy. One night we went out on a double date to a nice restaurant. As we were waiting for our food, we were talking when out of the blue Betsy started berating Mormon missionaries. She talked about how she hated it that they knocked on the doors of total strangers and bothered them with religion. She went on and on, uninterrupted, for what seemed like five minutes.

When she stopped to take a breath, Denny squirmed and said, "uh, Betsy, did I ever tell you that Paul is a Mormon?"

Within two years, I was honored to become one of those young men that Betsy said she loathed.

Denny went to work with his father right out of high school. I hear he still lives in California, although I haven't talked to him in probably 18 years. I bet he remembers the malt lid and shoelace incidents. Some things just have a way of sticking with you.

Hey, I think we used that exact line at the A's game after we knew our lives were safe. Some things have a way of sticking with you -- like malt lids.