My
earliest teacher in the San Quentin school was Miss Farrington. She
was young and handsome and everybody liked her. Across from the
schoolyard was a guard post that was called "Duffy's Post"
because it was where Dad (William J. Duffy, Sr.) was stationed.
Anyone coming onto the prison reservation and leaving it would pass
through the gate at this post. Dad became acquainted with a young
newspaper reporter from the San Francisco Chronicle who often made
trips to the prison on news assignments. The young man's name was Bob Edgren.
Dad
was also a school trustee, and on one occasion he introduced Bob
Edgren to my school teacher, Miss Farrington. It must have been love
at first sight, for soon afterwards they were married and I lost a
school teacher.
Bob
Edgren also wrote a sports column, and he soon went to New York City
as a sports writer for one of the large New York City daily papers.
He became a nationally known writer, and his columns were syndicated
all over the United States. They appeared in his old San Francisco
paper, The Chronicle, and I would always read them. My feelings for
the famous Bob Edgren were of a personal nature too. My teacher was
his wife.
Author:
William J. Duffy, Jr.