In school you can be influence both negatively and positively by teachers. ..... In the new school, one day for a spelling test we had the word, "Of". Now you would think that word would be pronounced the same most places here in the united states. The teacher pronounced it nearly identical to the word "Off". I could not distinguish the difference between how she was pronouncing the two words. Both 'Off' and 'Of' sounded the same because she didn't sound like a "Texan".
Late fifties and early sixties were "changing times." ....In lower school, the teachers that inspired me the most were the ones that encouraged that spark of sheer desire to solve difficult problems....It wasn't but a few days into the (Computer Science) class before I realized this was the subject for me. It was so fun, I forgot the time of day. I spent hours and hours hanging around the computer labs working on those first programs.
Joe Land had two wives: sisters Florence and Katherine (Kate) Perdue. The story of how he married his second wife was told to his great grandaughter, Jeri Steele by her grandmother, Ella Land Renfro.
