Richard

Talking about the Starfires reminds me of this guy Richard whom I met through the band. I don't know how he knew me but he did. He must have been 23 and I was 12. He said he knew my father. Anyhow what impacted me was this guy seemed to like and respect me and treated me like a peer. My experience up to that point was that cool older guys were angy hoodlums with a chip on their shoulder who at best ignored me or often picked on me. Richard was respected by the tough guys. He was no goody 2 shoes. He had one of the hottest cars around. I think it was a 57 chevy with some oversize bored out engine and 3 carbs. I took a ride with him one time. When he put his foot all the way down the other 2 carbs kicked in and it felt like someone put his foot in your back and shoved. We hit 120 on the stretch of 31 up to the Mason line before he ran out of straightaway. I was sure we were going to die. Then we went and stole a display tire from out in front of a tire store in Fitchburg. What a great time! The more guys like Richard that you knew, the less some punk was going to mess with you.
Thank you, Richard!