My Early Years

My first memories are obviously shady and the first concrete memories will be formed from the upper deck of a duplex of a duplex on the 2500 block of 29th Avenue South in Minneapolis.

When my consciousness was awakened, roughly after 1957, I was surrounded by an evil older brother who twisted my arm and a deaf younger brother who yelled around the clock.

Swinging into the early 60's

Dean Daniels

MPLS Block 2500 29th Ave Gang - 1959

L-R: Rita Steihm, Jane Dwinnell, Terry Matoola, Debbie Dwinnell, Rennie Steihm and Dean Daniels.

You'll never find a better cultural biopsy core than this 1950-1960 sample. While this group portrait looks pleasantly innocent (see: *Norman Rockwell) this innocent genetic sampling will actually...prove quite horribly doomed.

Our immediate antecedents (brothers and sisters) were awash in the Beat [deadbeat] Generation philosophies and the new horizon of drug vistas. Most of us would not make it...many of us would remain puzzled into our late years. What our older brothers and sisters destroyed...we were left to ponder.

L: Drew; R: Dean

Brotherly love on a German trike.

There was nothing quite like cruising the inner city block on a supremely engineered German trike with air-filled tires.

L-R Top: Jane and Debbie Dwinnell & 'Big' Dean/ Bottom L-R: Drew, 'Little' Dean (from the downstairs duplex).

Naturally...I was quite proud of the German tricycle...it always drew a crowd of admirers...specially girls. Notice that I am far more proud of the trike, than myself.

Whoop it up, this is probably my all time best birthday party - attended by kids I actually knew! I'm the kid at the center with the worried look that this could all end...soon.

L-R-top: Terry Matoola, Jane Dwinnell, Dean Daniels, 2 boys unknown

L-R-bottom: "Little Dean" and Rennie Stiehm.

Is THIS cute or what? Well ok, so it is "or what". Nonetheless, off to school I go with the next door dominatrix Debbie Dwinnell - school was only 2 inner city blocks away but she ran me hard. Dog behind is unknown - but unknown dogs were normal in our neighborhood.

The Hop' Along Cassidy Years

Dean Daniels and his "Best ever friend Terry Matoola!"

When Love Is Near...and STILL a thousand miles away...

The gorgeous years...

John Mickle, Rita Steihm, Glea Daniels, Jane Dwinell and Dean Daniels

For further idiocy...see next chapter