Johnny Poole was one of the 144 classmates in the class of 1972 - TopicsExpress



          

Johnny Poole was one of the 144 classmates in the class of 1972 from my hometown in Warren, Arkansas. Within that small class was even a much smaller group of us that had been together the whole 12 years. Every one of us experienced the unique bond of growing up together which wrote on the slate of who we are. Johnny Poole was just an average curly haired boy from the South but had an extraordinary gift of creativity and wit. We all have a story or two that we remember about each other, and this is one I remember about Johnny Poole. In 1969 we were 15 years old and the movie Midnight Cowboy was released. The movie starred Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight and was playing at our small Pastime theatre. Later on that year, it won the Oscar for Best Picture. It was X rated and you had to be 16 to get it in. By todays standards, it would probably be a PG-13 and wouldnt raise an eyebrow compared to todays soap operas. Either way X was X and the more forbidden it was, the more exciting it was for us to get in some how. I dont remember them checking IDs but remembered the excitement of about 10 of us getting in. Johnny Poole was sitting between me and Rick Warner. There was a scene in the movie in which Jon Voights character was pummeling a guy with a telephone. Johnny was so caught up in the moment he kicked the seat in front of him and shouted out NO........STOP!!! Seeing his expression following the outburst is one I will never forget. He was embarrassed but we all chuckled about it and never brought it up again. What he did though that night was show a small window into his brilliance and creativity in writing and acting. To become an actor or writer, one must immerse their soul into a character......Johnny Poole had that gift. Fast forward 30 years later and Im in Boswell, OK spending the Thanksgiving weekend on my in-laws farm. Its late at night after everyones in bed and I decide to watch a little TV before I call it a day. I turn it on a channel showing reruns of an old show hosted by Robert Stack called Unsolved Mysteries. Its a show about murders and mysteries that are realistically re-enacted for the viewers. On this particular night the story was about a man who decides to kill his wife in a brutal way by bludgeoning her to death, dragging her body down in the basement, and then setting the house on fire. I couldnt take my eyes off the bloody re-enactment and the guy pummeling his wife. I immediately thought about Johnny Pooles reaction in the movie 30 years before to a similar scene in Midnight Cowboy. I looked closer at the actor playing the part of the psycho beating his wife to death and my jaw fell completely to the floor.......it was my hometown friend Johnny Poole !!! After leaving Warren, he became a very successful playwright and actor in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. He changed his name over time from Johnny to J.T. to Tom Poole. After seeing the segment of him playing the killer on Unsolved Mysteries, I teased him about his name changes. I told him it was his way of staying one step ahead of the law from the brutal killing and burning of his wife in the basement. He would tell me it was our little secret and I promised not to tell. We lost our friend Johnny in a tragic accident a few years ago. Its difficult to lose those in our class when we share so many memories with them and about them. Johnny it is my hope and prayer that you have found peace and the Ultimate Stage to shine your brilliant light forever.
Posted on: Mon, 10 Nov 2014 02:08:59 +0000

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