I’m back, Dear Readers. I had swell time in Seattle at the birthday bash of my one year old grandson.
(See if you can guess his name.)
And just in case you can’t guess the name of the young man in the photo that heads up this post, it’s Jay North.
He played “Dennis The Menace” on tv and he is the perfect poster boy for this blog post because I wanted to write about another “menace” I haven’t thought about in years.
(Not Hendrix. He’s a doll.)
The other young man’s name was Marty Marks and he went to Avoca School with us a long time ago.
He lived on the border of Northfield and Winnetka in a very nice house off of Hibbard and Hill Roads- and it had a swimming pool. ( Very rare for its time.)
His father was some hosiery tycoon, I recall. He owned a company called Perfect Plus Nylons (or something like that) and the family was clearly well off.
I believe Marty was an only child. (Or perhaps he had other siblings but they were much too frightened of him to show their faces whenever company was around.)
Marty was blond, smiling- an All-American lad with the heart- at the age of twelve- of Al Capone.
He wasn’t mischievous. He was Trouble with a capital T that rhymes with P and that stands for the Pool where I almost lost my twelve year old bathing suit top diving in one summer afternoon at a swim party at his house. The shame of that moment still resonates with me.
He just didn’t seem to know- or care to distiguish- right from wrong.
Example: My mother came home one day aghast. “I just saw Marty Marks DRIVING (he was maybe thirteen at the time) and I shook my finger at him! How awful.”
Later when I spoke to Marty about the encounter he said, “Oh yeah, I saw your mom. She waved to me.”
See? A real sociopath. Nice enough but clearly no real firm value system or conscience.
There were probably many more examples in his budding juvenile deliquent career but after forty-five years, I have forgotten most of them.
You see, after we all graduated from Avoca- where we had been a class of 83 kids, we went into New Trier High School. Now my class numbered 1200 and there were 4700 kids in the school.
No more MM sightings ever again.
Until one day when I was about sixteen…I got a letter.
It was from Marty.
(Now remember, I hadn’t seen him since I was thirteen.)
He blithely informed me that he was currently at Ft. Sill, Oklahoma having joined the Army.
(I’m betting some judge gave him the choice between that or jail.)
Would I write to him? Please? And send a photo of me in a bathing suit. Preferably a two piece.
His number was RA16872723 and he gave me his address.
And oh yeah, one more thing.
He had made ME beneficiary of his life insurance and next of kin.
My father almost had a stroke when I showed him this communiqué.
“What the heck! You write him NOW and tell him to change that and get you off that policy immediately. That kid was always crazy!”
I did what my dad wanted and wrote to RA16872723 and told him that although I was flattered, I thought his parents should be the logical next of kin and I couldn’t possibly accept any Army benefits.
And you know what?
Shortly after that, I began receiving checks.
Government-issued checks about once a month made out to me.
I never cashed any. I’m sure I tried to return them. They finally stopped coming.
I never heard from Marty again. I heard a rumor a long time ago that he was dead.
But who knows? He was just the kind of person who would fake his own death just as a Halloween prank.
If you know what happened to him, please let me know.
I could sure use those benefit checks.
I never knew you had a “relationship” with Marty. Just remember a skinny blond kid who always was in trouble and went to the army.. What a funny story, Ellen! You know how names stick with you & form reputations????… it’s surprising that I married someone named Marty!!!
So happy you enjoyed Hendrix’s 1st birthday!!
Uh, I did not know that we had one, either! It was news to me. Glad your “Marty” is a great guy. And yes, Seattle etc. was a blast. Thanks and hope all is well with you and yours.
Oh, Marty Marks, the boy who sat in front of me in eighth grade homeroom and said mean things to me that I still remember! I had no idea you were “friends,” either, or anything about him after Avoca. I would have thought they’d sent him to military school
Happy Birthday to Hendrix!! Hope all of the littles are doing well!
He ended up in the Army for awhile at least. Sorry, Judy. He was nuts.
Now that is one story I had never heard….on the other hand, cute picture of a darling little boy’s first birthday.
Thank you, Auntie ML. And thanks for your support all the time. Much appreciated. 😘🎂🥂
What a terribly sad story of a troubled kid who, it seems, everybody just wrote off. Wonder where the parents were and why there was no early intervention.
As I recall they seemed older- and really pretty absent. He was a mess!
Ellen, what an amazing story about Marty. Definitely a troubled kid for some reason. Older and pretty absent parents doesn’t completely cover his behavior. If he needed attention, he sure was desperate and willing to do anything to get it. I remember a couple kids similar to this in my class who seemed to be in trouble all the time and I know two of my kids had similar kids in their classrooms. But none of them went as far as Marty did.
It’s amazing you received monthly government-issued checks. It makes me wonder if the reason you were getting them is he died. Maybe he had plans for killing himself if it was shortly after he let you know you were listed as his beneficiary when you began getting checks. Unless he lied and told the military the two of you were married or you’d had his baby. Oh my……
I’m glad you had a wonderful time with Hendrix and his parents. I’ll bet Hendrix is a doll and lots of fun.
Marty was nuts, Hendrix is a doll and you’re terrific, Susan. Thanks.
I remember Marty. After Avoca he was sent to a boarding (military?) school in Scottsdale AZ. He came back the next summer (’64) and picked me up in a silver GTO convertible. My mother saw him and asked if he had a drivers license. “Yes” he said. “In Arizona you can get a license at 14.” Don’t know if that was true because he did not have a license. He was a demon of a driver – almost got us killed. Last time I saw him was at the Wilmette Police Department. Let’s just say that I was just visiting but they had Marty for something larger. That was the last I saw of him. Heard that he was given the choice of Army or jail. Not surprised that he liked you.
Wow, Barry! Thanks for the MM update. This is the most info I ever got on him. I heard that he was dead- but not really sure if rumor or truth. But if Marty is, in fact, dead, I’m sure he’s making Satan unhappy. And hey! You’re “ not surprised he liked me?” What am I? A juvenile delinquent/Bonnie Parker or something?!😊