We quickly upgraded from ditto to mimeograph in order to print more copies.  This technique was a step up because ink was applied to the master template which easily allowed production runs in the hundreds of copies.  The first “new edition” of Frox sported an original hand drawn psychedelic cover by one of our classmates in the style of Richard Avedon or Peter Max.  We also quickly upped the ante and pushed the limits of what the administration considered obscene and/or libelous material – we were, after all teenagers with an attitude who wanted to speak and be heard.  The result was more suspensions that we bore with pride and with additional notoriety, interest in our endeavor continued to grow. 

Finally we got sophisticated enough to print the paper using photo offset printing which, until the recent onset of digital printing was the method that professional publications used. Once we learned basic journalistic layout skills, we were able to put out a fairly professional looking paper.  Back then, layout was a physical cut and paste affair with scissors and rubber cement – more laborious than but not unlike the electronic cutting and pasting used in word processors today.   We subscribed to Liberation News Service, a progressive news outlet that opened our eyes to issues beyond dress codes and lunch passes and provided both news stories and original graphics for publication.   We engaged in the issues of our times, such as opposition to the Vietnam War, civil rights, women’s liberation (yes, it was still referred to in those terms), gay rights, free speech, legalization of marijuana, pop culture and on and on.

Fast forward forty years…The Frox principals and several co-conspirators meet up again at the reunion.  Of course we've all changed in appearance - lost some hair, turned grey, put on a few pounds but interestingly everyone's voice was just as I remembered and instantly recognizable.  As if the 40 in this year’s 40th reunion wasn’t enough of a red flag we were reminded of our advancing age by comparing war stories regarding our health.  Each of us confronted and survived a serious health condition: cancers, stroke, open heart surgery, seizure disorder. And then there's the not insignificantly small list of deceased classmates.  But to a person, I don't think any of us think of ourselves as old. None in this group has retired, most have grown children (no grandchildren yet) and one has even started over - he and his wife are raising a four year old. Where they find the energy for that is a mystery.                      

Certainly things haven’t turned out as we expected, indeed as we knew they would.  We were ready to change the world tomorrow and never would have anticipated where we’ve wound up: a doctor, banker, head hunter, proprietor of a vintage guitar store and an environmental research engineer.   We’ve all moved on and while today we debate whether our words were arrogant or naive (or both) there was no doubt that our motivation was sincere.  I was pleased to realize that none of us has become cynical – the core values and vision for a better world that motivated us then remain alive and well, 40 years ago today.