I first laid eyes on a copy of Famous Monsters of Filmland in Eiron's Book Store. Famous Monsters of Filmland was a landmark magazine that first appeared in 1958. When I saw the first issue of Famous Monsters it was in a pile of about fifty three-quarter cover copies. Even though the title was missing it was like nothing I had ever seen before. My pals and I were big movie fans and while we loved the westerns, the horror films had a special appeal. No other publication had ever given credence to horror and monster movies.
I could not wait to read that magazine but for reasons that have disappeared from my memory, I was unable to read it that night. I took it to school the next day with the intention of reading it in study hall. When that period had arrived, I tucked it behind my notebook and and became consumed with the images and stories that Forrest J. Ackerman put into that first issue. I had made it to the 8th page, studying every photo and absorbing every word. Somehow my teacher, Mrs. Rodriguez, worked her way behind me so she could see what had captured my attention. It was like a sneak attack–she grabbed the mag from my notebook, marched to the front of the room, tore it in half and tossed it in the garbage can. That was in 1958. I never saw another copy until 1970.
The next year I was in high school and trips to Walker's and Eiron's became less frequent. One of my last visits to Walker's was quite memorable as I picked up Showcase #4–The Return of the Flash, Lois Lane #1, Jimmy Olsen #1, Challengers #1 and several Atlas issues of Captain America and Human Torch. These treasures were six for a quarter. Those days were great for collecting comic books, but cars and girls become more important in high school. I can still remember seeing Fantastic Four #1 in a spinning comic rack. I read the story in the store but didn't buy the book. I had other things on my mind.
The Florida State Fair has been a big wintertime event since the early 1900s. My parents would take me every year. Somewhere in the late 1950s I started going with my friends. Each year the IMCA Sprint Cars would hold five races on the big fairgrounds half mile dirt track. I never had money to buy a race ticket but one of my buddies figured out that the ticket stubs were the same color as a Juicy Fruit gum wrapper. If you held the wrapper just right it would look like the edge of the ticket stub. It worked for me and my life was never the same again. I got the same thrills from those dirt slinging open-wheeled monsters as I did from reading a pile of comic books a few years earlier. These races were only held for two weeks in February of each year. When it was over you would not want to wait another year to hear those Offy engines again.
I had no direction in 1962 when I graduated from Hillsborough High School so I decided to attend the newly opened University of South Florida. Vietnam was becoming an issue so it was not a hard decision to continue in school and get the student draft deferment.
USF was in the sticks, far out of town on Fowler Avenue. The only sign of life east of the university was the newly opened Golden Gate Speedway. It wasn't long until I was going to the track almost every day after classes. On many afternoons, some driver had a car at the track for testing and practice. Within a couple of months, I would bypass school most days and go directly to the race track. This did not translate to good grades.
Stock cars had an incredible appeal to me. The colorful graphics and lettering had a visceral appeal to me just as comic books had a few years earlier. By 1963 I had my own race car. This was a beaten 1949 Pontiac fastback four door sedan. I had no funds to get it race-ready, so after I disassembled my sisters swing set, I pulled the car to the track and had the welder make roll bars from the poles that held up the swings. No one ever checked the thickness of the roll bars and fortunately the car never flipped. I guess in a way my sister and I were partners in the car.
Race crash photo in a mid-1960s issue of Cavalcade of Auto Racing. David T. Alexander is circled in red.
The car was black and we placed #77 on the sides in a bright gold paint. I put a flame paint job on that junker that was the envy of the track. The car had a flathead straight 8 cylinder motor. I never was able to get the car to complete more than 5 laps before it conked out. I knew nothing about mechanics and still don't today. The car never finished a race, but man, was it fun. Sadly I never thought to take a picture of it. Although I don't have any photos of my race car, I did see my picture at Golden Gate Speedway in a mid 1960s issue of Cavalcade of Auto Racing.
PRODUCTS 
High school photo of David T. Alexander
College photo of David T. Alexander
Race crash photo in a mid-1960s issue of Cavalcade of Auto Racing. David T. Alexander is circled in red.