FAQ #4b: Why is your dad named Denver?

About the time I was 7 (or so) I had accumulated enough knowledge to know that neither my dad nor his parents had ever been to Denver Colorado.

By that time I don't think my dad or his parents ever ventured outside the state of Arkansas...except for WWII, which took my dad to Alaska's Aleutian Islands. My dad and mom, and both their parents were all born about 50 miles from Hope Arkansas.

I don't recall if someone at school asked me about my name, or if the question came to me...but, one day I asked: "Dad, why are you named Denver?"

I kinda remember asking it. I know for certain I did not follow my question with any of the often following questions--especially not the one about the Denver Bronco's, because at that time we didn't have a television. Maybe by that time I'd not seen a TV. Maybe I'd seen the one at Kent Rubin's house. His was a wooden cabineted monster about four feet tall and wide and maybe two and a half or three feet deep...it had (as I recall) a screen about five or six inches across. We "watched" it once...during the day while his dad and mom were out of the house. Didn't see a dang thing. Which should not have been a surprise since back then Memphis' only TV station broadcast two or three hours every night.

Anyway, when I asked my dad why he was named Denver, he answered: More..