Still Sleepy After All These Years!

Believe it or not, I have run into a few who still want to call me "Sleepy".  And it's cool.  It's a link to a happier, simpler time in my life.   When I graduated from the Hell known as Summerville High School, Joel Padgett and Russell Sullivan were in the crowd.   I walked across the stage, received my diploma, and recognized Russell yelling "Way ta go, Sleepy!!"   That made it almost bearable, graduating from the wrong school.

I got wind of a rumor that had me dead or in prison.   Obviously untrue!   I would love to know where those got started!!!   Well, I did die twice in surgery if one must get technical.   My brushes with the law have been limited to a few traffic tickets.   I have been around and keeping a relatively low profile.

My family moved to Summerville in 1971, during my Junior Year at Fort Johnson High.   I had to do another Junior Year at Summerville as well and graduated in 1973.   From there it was brief stints at the College of Charleston and Trident Tech.   I somehow ended up in broadcasting for a number of years, calling myself "John Martin" and doing my best to live down to the stereotypical image of the Party Animal Deejay.    I wont go into gory detail, but in retrospect I find it hard to believe I did not have to do time in Detox!   While I made a living in various areas, I eventually drifted back into radio where I eventually was heard world-wide via webcasts on the late Breeze Radio Network.   Sadly this came to an end when the first and last of the Breeze stations, WWBZ, was sold.

(Left) The early Howard Stern Look: Doing my Disco Blimp thing at WQSN (15 Q) radio in 1979. 
(Center) 1999, five minutes after returning to the air after recovery from my near fatal heart attack.
(Right) Me as of April.  Thankfully I haven't shown my age nearly as much as I possibly could have!

I married in 1984 and we split in 1999, with the divorce final in 2001. I am proud to say that in spite of being a disfunctional couple, Tammie and I are still very good friends.

Somewhere along the line, heart problems developed.  I should have expected this since that is what killed my father, but y'all may remember I had a bad case of Thickus Skullus.  I had a major attack and double bypass surgery in 1998.  Somehow I survived dying twice in surgery have bounced back to a degree.  On the flip side, it was during my stay in the hospital that I learned that  what had been low-level diabetes kicked up to full blown, insulin dependent type 2 diabetes.  As a result I have become mobility impaired and been declared disabled.  I have since resigned myself to a simple lifestyle with a double shot of introspect time thrown in.  I now live in a little place in Hanahan with my cat JJ and ghosts of fond memories that I miss dearly.

So why am I on Classmates?  Because I miss the people I grew up with.  I owe thanks to some and apologies to others.  There are a lot of things I would love to say to many of you.  Long overdue words.  I was a Total Ass to some and a Complete Jerk to others and an OK guy to a few.  I can't roll back 30 years and don't know if anyone even cares anymore.  I do.

I can be reached at (843) 308-0248, or emailed at johnmwms@knology.net  I would love to hear from any of  you.

I miss you guys!!!!

(For more on me and what I'm up to, visit my primary webspace.)

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