--sterling silver--

On the
first day of 7th grade i sat down
at a four kid table in my first
"art class" it was a table with an empty
seat.... so i sat there. i cant really
remember anyone else at the table but the
kid that sat diagonally across from me.
i remember looking over at him... he was
already drawing. i kinda peeked at what
he was drawing and i want to say it was
like some dragons and castle kinda stuff.
he looked different from the rest of the
kids, little more greasy, to be honest he
looked like the son of a biker.
A few minutes after everyone was seated
the teacher took role call and i heard the
usual names called out:
"jones, jeff?"
kid replies "here"
"smith, jenny?"
she replies "here"

then..... i hear.
"Silver, Sterling?".... even the teacher looked
a little sideways. The kid sittin' across at my table
looked up from his drawing and answered " here".

That was the first time i met -Sterling Silver-
i remember he liked to draw. he was good at art class.
his dad had a Harley and he always seemed a little calmer
and cooler than most 7th-8th graders. With out being the
-cool kid-.
I ended up moving a few years later and we lost touch.
until a few days ago i got the email below.
he has a bike now, and still does art.
and his quote about life was he's
"Just LIVI'N, etc...."

thanks, SterlinG
good to hear form you
,,,, max



his Dad's bike below. oakland roadster show.


Hey Max,
Here's a start on the old photos. The pin-striped flames (and zig-zag man on top of tank) and metal-flake blend are done by Oaktown old-schooler Carie Greenwood, long time friend of the family who died just a few years back. He used to stripe everyone's bikes from Sonny Barger to Evil Kenievel. Somewhere I have a picture on top of Kenievel's Jet-Bike, a bike built around a full size jet engine! We still have some of his work around (trades for tattooing his wife).