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Marching across the stage to receive your high school graduation diploma was always a high point in a teenager's life. To receive an automobile as a reward really put the icing on the cake. The next best thing was to be best friend to such a guy. Back in 1947 Charlie Parker was such a guy and I was the "B.F."

We worked many hours restoring that 1931 Model A Ford. But, one thing we never got around to installing was a key ignition switch. Not to worry. The rotor (about the size of a plastic bottle screw-on cap) inside the distributor was easily removed and put in your pants pocket. Without the rotor in the distributor the juice in the battery can't get to the spark plugs.

One night, after we caught the last show at the Florida Theater, Charlie took the rotor out of his pocket and it was broken in half. We looked around the parking lot to see if "Midnight Auto Supply" was open and sure enough there was another '31 Model A, four parking spaces away.

Fortunately, before our mettle could be tested the owner of that Model A (Karl Landkrom) arrived and upon learning of our plight, volunteered to drive to his house to get a spare rotor and bring it back to us. With that, he reached in HIS pocket, pulled out HIS rotor, put it in HIS distributor and said "C'mon, hop in, I'll bring you right back".  Life was/is good.