Page 4 - kappbook2020

24 I JOE KAPP, THE TOUGHEST CHICANO"
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from Van Nuys. It's now surrounded by Santa Clarita and the Magic
Mountain Amusement Park. Aunt Odie had serious health problems.
I was always welcome to help care for her boys Jimmy, Fred, Chris,
and Ted. I spent summers and holidays with the Atlers helping out
any way I could.
While I was staying with them I met George Harris, the principal
of William S. Hart High School in Newhall, who gave me a job. He as-
signed me to work with Charlie Dillenback, who ran the Buildings and
Grounds Department for the High School. I became the man with the
hoe, and I hoed a lot of weeds. While working at the stadium during
the first summer in Newhall, I met Mr. Al Lewis, the school's football

coach. Coincidently, he lived in Van Nuys too.
I called Coach Lewis for help with my basketball crisis. Immedi-
ately, he invited me to attend Hart and play for him. I accepted; the
basketball crisis was settled. I commuted to Hart with Coach Lewis
until I moved in with the Atlers. But my family had its own crisis. At
Lockheed, R. D. was found sleeping off a hangover in the back of a
plane he was supposed to be helping assemble. He lost his job. We
lost our house in Van Nuys. This kicked off a series of tough times and
moves for the rest of my family.
But I avoided those tough times: I got to stay with the Atlers, play
sports, and finish high school at Hart. I have always felt a certain
amount of guilt for that, but the family was always extremely sup-
portive. Coach Lewis did many things for me, but perhaps the most
significant thing was to make me the quarterback of the football team.

I had always been the quarterback until tenth grade in Salinas, where
they played me at end. By the time I got to Hart, I was not sure where
I fit on a football team-but Coach Lewis was not confused. From the
very beginning, he had confidence in me. His unfailing confidence
bolstered my belief in myself. He was my champion.
I spent a lot of time studying the game with Coach Lewis. As his
quarterback, he taught me his system and expected me to call plays