I ended up living with what was his girlfriend from 1976 to 1993. (Ginger Ryser) John and I were like George Harrison, and Eric Clapton with Patty Boyd between use.. We remained friends through the years, however, I lost touch with him a few years before his death, and did not return a call from him on my voice mail from about 2000. I did not learn of his death until a few years later when our fifth grade band mate Dan McNerney informed me, This was after Dan sent me a surprise video disk in the mail of our band "What".
Here is a link to that memorie https://www.facebook.com/jim.butler.3158/videos/vb.100000263409166/186665671352212/?type=3&theater
John did go to North Shore Country Day, but transfered to NTE when we became jrs. He requested to be in my home room with Mr. Fry, but I moved on to the Center For Self Directed Learning.
This is an amazing thread, thanks Bennet, and Jim ("What" a great video, you all really looked so natural in that setting... ;-)....it seems music fueled many of us from this era, certainly makes my world richer every day.
I remember John through several other friends from NS Country Day, and New Trier. To me he was a quiet, gentle tall man...seemed old and wise beyond his age, he had a lovely, warm and mysterious smile.
I remember him as friends with Rob Hayes (NTE) and Mason Taylor (NSCD) both of whom I knew and miss, and passed on as well....I hope they are all hanging out, laughing and listening to music where ever they may be.
I also hung out with John as part of the local young musicans and go-kart/mini bike enthusiasts! Aside from the music and mini bikes, i remember John showing up at my house and knocking on my window at 4:30 AM... to go down to the beach and watch the sunrise. Didn't happen... and I'm still not a morning person. :)
Way to loosen a few tongues, Bennett! Cannot forget my first introduction to John. It was at John Warner's house and I'll ever attach Booz & Warner together. Normally, hanging at Warner's place whether day or night meant we would be downstairs in his rough-hewn but expansive den-of-iniquity/basement where almost anything went including puffing, sniffing, tripping (on who knew what!?) and beer drinking to the extreme with stacks upon stacks of empty cans lining the walls floor to ceiling...I'm digressing but the rather progressive Warners (mom & step-dad) actually allowed John to drink as long as it was at home and we stayed in the basement, they even bought the beer(!), all the beer he and his buds could drink it seemed BUT only Buckhorn (gah! beggars don't choose)...Dark Side Of The Moon, candles, floppy couches, a Bongo board, marathon games of Risk and Buckhorn! [Last I knew of Warner was he was in the Pacific Northeast, maybe the Tacoma area but 30+ years gone by...anyone know his more recent whereabouts?]
Also recall John and John lived nearby one another, Booz's house being a street or two to the East IIRC (we never went inside). And so anyway, one day I'm at Warner's (never having met Booz yet) and popped upstairs to the kitchen for ice or whatever. John Booz must have recently arrived and had engaged John's mother. One look at Booz and the 2 of them conversing, I'm thinking, hmm, the Warners have a guest, some adult...I remember being more than slightly taken aback to learn he was our contemporary as we proceeded downstairs together!
Alison, your memory of John is so spot on, a soft-spoken, gentle giant. Doubt the two of us crossed paths much more than a couple dozen times, if that. So I really barely knew him but do recall John Booz often seemed to have a question. It would be an aside at some gathering, just the two of us engaged and they would be questions that as a 16, 17 or 18 year old, I never gave any major consideration to....I'm wracking my remaining brain cells to recall anything specific of his querries (nope) but I do know they always struck me as different, philosophic, touching on things that would require deep thought or taking another perspective.
As Jim has related, perhaps they were conflicted questions....I came to expect it from him, a most interesting gentleman I wish I had known better.
John didn't talk much in class, but when he did he was fascinating. His unique mind caught my attention all the time. I had a crush on him and still think about him all these years. And always will.
I am so glad that people are remembering John Booz. Even though I haven't seen him in forty years, he was one of those people I was hoping I might meet again, or at least keep up with, until I read about his death on this website. He was one of the more interesting people at NTHS, but also a nice person. Echoing Jim Butler and Tom Massman: they may not remember that I played on John's drum set during two or three sessions with Jim and Tom and Brad Dubner. I was expanding my horizons beyond the Glencoe musicians I'd been hanging out with. I believe John was in the process of giving up the drums. Ultimately I made him $300 richer by buying his drum set (most which survived 40 years in my nephew's basement in Cleveland, Ohio). I believe a lot of the conflict inside John that Jim Butler refers to came from the very interesting, very unhappy Booz family history--most of which I learned from John's brother George, who was a bit more vocal about those things. John was an intelligent, thoughtful, decent man whose introspection made him hard to approach sometimes. Breaking through was worth it, though. RIP, John.
John Warner was my best friend in 5th through 11th grades. He died in Washington state. Boy do I remember the beer, bongo board, and Risk. Only the Risk remains a staple in my family. I had several step fathers and John Booze and John Warner could relate. A few weeks before John Booz's suicide My wife and I spent some time with him art Challangers party, He shared a story of uncomfortable sexual feelings with his tortured mother as a French spy an WW2. He seemed very lonley in the end. I would like to see some of his art work if anyone has some.
Jim Butler
Bennett,
John and I were pretty much best friends.
I ended up living with what was his girlfriend from 1976 to 1993. (Ginger Ryser) John and I were like George Harrison, and Eric Clapton with Patty Boyd between use.. We remained friends through the years, however, I lost touch with him a few years before his death, and did not return a call from him on my voice mail from about 2000. I did not learn of his death until a few years later when our fifth grade band mate Dan McNerney informed me, This was after Dan sent me a surprise video disk in the mail of our band "What".
Here is a link to that memorie https://www.facebook.com/jim.butler.3158/videos/vb.100000263409166/186665671352212/?type=3&theater
Jim Butler
John did go to North Shore Country Day, but transfered to NTE when we became jrs. He requested to be in my home room with Mr. Fry, but I moved on to the Center For Self Directed Learning.
Jim Butler
John was a very interesting, different, artistic and conflicted person. A lot like myself, except I'm still alive.
Alison Cartwright (Sesko)
This is an amazing thread, thanks Bennet, and Jim ("What" a great video, you all really looked so natural in that setting... ;-)....it seems music fueled many of us from this era, certainly makes my world richer every day.
I remember John through several other friends from NS Country Day, and New Trier. To me he was a quiet, gentle tall man...seemed old and wise beyond his age, he had a lovely, warm and mysterious smile.
I remember him as friends with Rob Hayes (NTE) and Mason Taylor (NSCD) both of whom I knew and miss, and passed on as well....I hope they are all hanging out, laughing and listening to music where ever they may be.
Tom Massman
I also hung out with John as part of the local young musicans and go-kart/mini bike enthusiasts! Aside from the music and mini bikes, i remember John showing up at my house and knocking on my window at 4:30 AM... to go down to the beach and watch the sunrise. Didn't happen... and I'm still not a morning person. :)
Thomas Hanlon
Way to loosen a few tongues, Bennett! Cannot forget my first introduction to John. It was at John Warner's house and I'll ever attach Booz & Warner together. Normally, hanging at Warner's place whether day or night meant we would be downstairs in his rough-hewn but expansive den-of-iniquity/basement where almost anything went including puffing, sniffing, tripping (on who knew what!?) and beer drinking to the extreme with stacks upon stacks of empty cans lining the walls floor to ceiling...I'm digressing but the rather progressive Warners (mom & step-dad) actually allowed John to drink as long as it was at home and we stayed in the basement, they even bought the beer(!), all the beer he and his buds could drink it seemed BUT only Buckhorn (gah! beggars don't choose)...Dark Side Of The Moon, candles, floppy couches, a Bongo board, marathon games of Risk and Buckhorn! [Last I knew of Warner was he was in the Pacific Northeast, maybe the Tacoma area but 30+ years gone by...anyone know his more recent whereabouts?]
Also recall John and John lived nearby one another, Booz's house being a street or two to the East IIRC (we never went inside). And so anyway, one day I'm at Warner's (never having met Booz yet) and popped upstairs to the kitchen for ice or whatever. John Booz must have recently arrived and had engaged John's mother. One look at Booz and the 2 of them conversing, I'm thinking, hmm, the Warners have a guest, some adult...I remember being more than slightly taken aback to learn he was our contemporary as we proceeded downstairs together!
Alison, your memory of John is so spot on, a soft-spoken, gentle giant. Doubt the two of us crossed paths much more than a couple dozen times, if that. So I really barely knew him but do recall John Booz often seemed to have a question. It would be an aside at some gathering, just the two of us engaged and they would be questions that as a 16, 17 or 18 year old, I never gave any major consideration to....I'm wracking my remaining brain cells to recall anything specific of his querries (nope) but I do know they always struck me as different, philosophic, touching on things that would require deep thought or taking another perspective.
As Jim has related, perhaps they were conflicted questions....I came to expect it from him, a most interesting gentleman I wish I had known better.
Julie Tomlinson
John didn't talk much in class, but when he did he was fascinating. His unique mind caught my attention all the time. I had a crush on him and still think about him all these years. And always will.
Max Wiley
I am so glad that people are remembering John Booz. Even though I haven't seen him in forty years, he was one of those people I was hoping I might meet again, or at least keep up with, until I read about his death on this website. He was one of the more interesting people at NTHS, but also a nice person. Echoing Jim Butler and Tom Massman: they may not remember that I played on John's drum set during two or three sessions with Jim and Tom and Brad Dubner. I was expanding my horizons beyond the Glencoe musicians I'd been hanging out with. I believe John was in the process of giving up the drums. Ultimately I made him $300 richer by buying his drum set (most which survived 40 years in my nephew's basement in Cleveland, Ohio). I believe a lot of the conflict inside John that Jim Butler refers to came from the very interesting, very unhappy Booz family history--most of which I learned from John's brother George, who was a bit more vocal about those things. John was an intelligent, thoughtful, decent man whose introspection made him hard to approach sometimes. Breaking through was worth it, though. RIP, John.
Bennett Webb
John Warner was my best friend in 5th through 11th grades. He died in Washington state. Boy do I remember the beer, bongo board, and Risk. Only the Risk remains a staple in my family. I had several step fathers and John Booze and John Warner could relate. A few weeks before John Booz's suicide My wife and I spent some time with him art Challangers party, He shared a story of uncomfortable sexual feelings with his tortured mother as a French spy an WW2. He seemed very lonley in the end. I would like to see some of his art work if anyone has some.
Sylvia Fuerstenberg
I remember John well. He was funny and brillian. I met him through Jim Butler I think. So sad to hear of his passing.