interviewed by Jill Carnes
Page 3
JC: Do you find any particular flower to be the most beautiful?
BT: Stargazer lily is pretty great.
JC: Wow, okay. What about rats? Any thoughts?
BT: They're really sneaky. They climbed up into my attic, and I had to patch a hole. I really admire their resilience, but they sure are tricky when they live in your house - boy! They tend to gnaw on things.
JC: They're smart and crafty. They're definitely a pest. What's your astrological sign?
BT: I'm a Leo.
Bill Taft
JC: And what about the Chinese zodiac? What animal were you born under?
BT: I think I'm a bunny, or a rabbit.
JC: Do you speak any foreign languages?
BT: No... a little bit of German, but a very little bit.
JC: Which of your childhood toys did you enjoy most?
BT: I liked the cannon I made, but I was in sixth grade... does that count as childhood?
JC: Yeah, that's childhood.
BT: I loved making a cannon that really worked. That made me happy.
JC: What did you blow up?
BT: We'd just shoot these little wood stoppers - like wood dowel - through a pipe.
JC: Did you ever build a fort when you were a kid?
BT: Yeah, snow forts especially. Snow forts were my favorite thing to build, because we had lots of snow. I could sleep in the snow; I loved doing that, it was very peaceful.
JC: What sort of games did you and your childhood friends play?
BT: We played the pipe-bomb game... after the cannon, we learned how to make pipe bombs; so we'd throw them into the pond and they'd blow up - we loved that. But before that, probably bikes... riding bikes over ramps was a big game, trying to jump things.
Bill Taft
JC: Were you ever a board-game player?
BT: No. And I couldn't ever play Chinese checkers.
JC: And what about jigsaw puzzles, or stamp collecting?
BT: No, but one game we liked playing was: climb up the chimney... we'd put our legs around the chimney and try to climb up the house.
JC: Did you ever make it to the top?
BT: No, my brother did though.
JC: So Bill, that's the end of the interview, unless you have something you'd like to tell people. Do you have anything you'd like to say?
BT: "Hello."
JC: I know, it's hard to think of something on demand. Well, it has been nice sitting with you and chatting with you.
BT: Certainly has been a pleasure spending time with you, Jill.
