The first year I taught art in 1965 at JFK High School in Iselin NJ, Roger was my co art teacher. He looks wonderful in this photograph, much unchanged. We had a wonderful time in this school.
The kids were very creative and wonderful to work with. Roger was a terrific guy to have with me in my first year.
I commuted on a rickety train out from Manhattan. The first week we had no chairs because the school was just opening! I think Roger and I had a big double class room that we shared. I remember Roger being incredibly industrious
in his life outside of school.
He was breathtaking. On a weekend, he would completely change his whole house. Once
he built an additional big room onto his house in a very short amount of time so he could have a big extra living room for parties. He was imaginative at interior decoration and loved
a friend of his who would make loose English-style slip covers for his furniture - she was as good at fast transformations as he was! Roger had a huge set of copper pots and pans which looked great in his kitchen. He used them to cook every meal. He was a good cook. He never minded polishing them... he liked to do it. I
remember the beautiful dishes he collected at that time; they had brown English nature scenes with a quail motif. They were gorgeous and he really treasured them. He was so much fun and delighted in the humor and energy of the kids
in Iselin. Many of the families there said they had recently come out there from the city. They were robust hard-working kids many of whom had real art talent. I wish I had gotten in touch with Roger before now. I hope he would have been pleased that I remember him so well and appreciate that he was there when my art teaching career began. God Speed, Roger !!
