.8-year-old Click
THE BATTALION Page 15
'y Cretdi
'Stoutsi
\y MARCY BOYCE
Battalion Reporter
ild be a typical bus driver,
Iriving his route only occa-
isking, “May I see your pass,
But Jonathan Summ, or
East or Click, who’s
[his name twice, is not a typ-
Iriver. Entertainer might be
[title.
[flat tire and 16 credit hours,
lat product Ted Mack sold
3d Mack Amateur Hour, ” he
[nding more like a disc joc-
a bus driver. On another
[etween harmonica medleys
;hts, he might offer three
B of K—Mart underwear to
pger who is able to tell him
laying at Grins.
[who has driven the shuttle
S for [Transportation Enterprises
T, 16 hours a week for three
: ^Bs, said he refuses to just sit
^^■tate like everyone else, but
id, he is determined to make an
|ce out of it.
ople think it’s easy to get on a
and bullshit, but it isn’t,” he
‘pave to feel it out. And I may
t35 arm pits, but if I get one or two
iple who shine, it makes it all
rthwhile.’
Although Click went to school in
^■Station from ages 13 to 17,
• road which brought him to his
•rent job as a bus driver took him
iund the world before he returned
9ge 25.
He was born in Ireland 31.8 years
)and named Jonathan Summ. His
lily came to College Station when
i was born in Ireland 31.8
m fc. and named Jonathan
■|| His family came to Col-
*1 Station when he was 13 be-
father was doing re-
nt jrch in biochemistry. After
j m Jmotin^ from high school, he
«t to the University of Texas
^\e semester. He then
his name to Shannon
wcause he said he thought
■n name was ‘'facially in-
was|l3 because his father was
ing research in biochemistry,
pk s^id. After graduating from
; ischoiil, he went to the Univer-
of Texas for one semester. He
’ 'J^Bnged his name to Shannon
0 ^™ause he said he thought his
ft
, e, ^Hme was “facially indescrip-
e ”
‘1 went to school because I felt it
sthepest thing to do then, but a
Siwhut goes on a university is just
illusion he said. “They give you
, 1 ,T information and then expect you
•e sportiJI
ties.”
their pit)
son.
>hasis 1
lates t(|
; going I
ears.”
old 4
else,
with«
y andl
to regurgitate it for a box lull of dol
lars. What about intellectual aware
ness?
“One of the few things I felt turned
on by was traveling,” he said.
“Traveling is a real education be
cause it makes me realize what’s
happening with people.”
Therefore, starting in 1966, for a
year and a half, Click went to Lon
don, where his mother lived. Then
in 1968, with $120 in his pocket,
Click said, he left to travel through
out Europe and the Middle East.
Hitchhiking across the country,
Click said he was often hungry, but
he received an occasional good meal
along the way in various youth hos
tels — “fourth class traveler’s hotels
popular in Europe” — Click said.
“As long as you are homo sapiens and
not diseased you can use them.”
His travels eventually brought
him to Israel, where he worked on a
commune with 350 people picking
citrus fruits for nine and a half weeks.
Click said he plays the banjo,
guitar and harmonica. While he was
in Israel, he met a blind history
graduate from New Jersey who also
played the banjo.
Together they went to Tel Aviv,
where, he said, they played blue-
grass music every day on the side
walk of a main shopping center.
“That was when I still had my Ivy
League look, you know, hair cuts
every three weeks, ” said Click, who
now wears a headband around his
long blond cuxls.
Because they had to compete with
the buses passing by, Click said they
kept their songs down to “foot-
stomping, hollering tunes.” He said
they earned $15-20 per day and built
up quite a reputation which eventu
ally earned them a spot on a local
radio station.
After four months on the street
corner, Click said, they both moved
on. Click earned a scholarship to a
Jerusalem university, where he
studied English literature and his
tory for four and a half years.
“I never really went to school with
the idea of making money, ” he said.
“If I wanted to do that, I could sell
insurance or be a prostitute.
“I don’t get into big money be
cause I don’t v/ant to center my life
on it,” he said. In fact, he says, he
only needs enough to eat and sleep
on, and to buy toothpaste and con
traceptives.
Click said he thinks it is important
to be self-sufficient. “This is a society
of pushers — the middle man —
people saying, ‘Here, take this and
sell it, ”’ Click said. And believing his
life should reflect this desire to be
self-sufficient, he said, he makes his
own clothes, sandals and even some
horse nail jewelry.
For example, he said, back poc
kets on pants are useless and cum
bersome, so the pants he makes only
have a small pocket for a comb and
separate pouches around the waist.
He also made the denim bag he is
seldom seen without. It is made from
five pairs of jeans and reinforced with
a U.S. Mint Denver money bag
strong enough to support the dog,
small piano and midget which he
says it contains.
Since he returned to College Sta
tion in 1973, Click said sewing, mak
ing jewelry, playing music and a
While he was in Israel, he met a
blind history graduate from New
Jersey who also played the
banjo. Together they went to Tel
Aviv, where they played blue-
grass music every day on the
sidewalk of a main shopping cen
ter. Because they had to compete
with the buses passing by. Click
said they kept their songs down
to “foot-stomping, hollering
tunes. ”
daily workout take up most of his free
time. “I spend a lot of time alone, ” he
said, even though he lives in a house
on Fidelity Street with “two or
ganisms.”
Depicting a completely different
mood from the Click who prefers to
go by Click de Heels, he said, “This
place is a city dump. I really don’t
know why Tm here. Sometimes I
feel like Tm wasting my life here.”
Plans for the future? “I’ve learned
not to expect too much of them be
cause I don’t know how to plan for
the things that I think are important,
such as real friends.”
WEDNESDAY, MAY 9, 1979
No-shows cost
jazzfest money
United Press International
NEW ORLEANS — Organizers
of the New Orleans Jazz and Heri
tage Festival have said they lost
$75,000 on the three-week produc
tion because of poor attendance.
But festival director Anna Zim
merman said profits from last year’s
show would pay for the losses.
“But we’re unhappy that we won’t
be able to give out any grants this
year to deserving community or
ganizations,” Zimmerman said.
About 150,000 persons attended
the festival, which ended last Sun
day. That is half the number that was
expected. The best day was Sunday
when 45,000 people jammed the in
field of the fair grounds race track.
'ALTERATIONS'
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF
OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER
TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE
ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN
MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE
THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND
ALTERATIONS.
"DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL
MAKE IT FIT!"
AT WELCH'S CLEANERS. WE
'JOT ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCEL
.ENT DRY CLEANERS BUT WE
SPECIALIZE IN ALTERING HARD
FO FIT EVENING DRESSES
TAPERED. SHIRTS. JEAN HEMS
WATCH POCKETS. ETC.
(WE’RE JUST A FEW
BLOCKS NORTH OF FED
MART.)
Battalion photo by Colin Crombie
Atypical bus driver Click East plays his hannonica in be
tween driving his route and quizzing his passengers. East,
who has had a variety of names (Jonathon Summ, Shannon
East, and now, Click), says he is 31.8 years old. He’s been
known to pick citrus fruits as well as the guitar and the banjo.
^^XNATURAriTuGHTtuNCH
Come to the Sbisa Dining Center Basement.
The fresh crisp salad items are almost unlimity
ed and the superb sandwiches are made with*
big loaves of bread baked daily for this special
purpose. If you are dieting you may also wish
to try a bowl of natural freestone peaches. No
sugar has been added to these beautiful
peaches ' Quality First
Open 10:30 a.m."1:3G p.m. Mon.-Fri.
WELCH’S CLEANERS
3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER)
£
ty V y
O" W >^3801 £.2^
"owni
Country
84U- 2^0
NOW HIRING
FOR SUMMER
ELECTRICAL EMPLOYMENT
AT
NEW BRAUNFELS
CEMENT PLANTS
CALL:
IJOB PHONE 512/629-3621
SAN ANTONIO PHONE 512/341-31461
TEMPLE PHONE 817/778-1377
BRYAN PHONE 822-7502
an equal opportunity employer
OLMGCA.
11
ordinfl
itherp
problaj
. Inf
•e you I
needfl
be sail|
cial ]
that d
T«€ HCAD TCQUILA.
Their heads still stand. Nine feet high.
Eighteen tons strong. The Olmec civiliza
tion in Mexico that miraculously carved
them out of stone is now ancient his
tory. But, from this same land in Mexico,
an imposing Tequila is made. It’s made
in Gold and in Silver and it’s made to
taste sensually powerful, but mellow.
Olmeca is made as a monument for
all tequilas that follow.
W «, »«****> ~
v" . - \
' ■' '•^ «?y
mtmmi f \. *■ -. Sf >:•
s * 'V
V v'/
? .<* pfZ > T
i v VS \
•»
ill U 1
J 80 Proof
I
.4% 3* ’
^■^SILVER and OLMFCA GOLD OLMECA TEQUILA CO LOS ANGELES. CALIF