Herb 

A Prime Story about Herb by Donna Grauer

Prime Numbers are divisible only by 1 and by themselves…..

“ I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spend all your time thinking about them. “- Mark Haddon

 

Herb was 72 when he died. 72 is not a prime number but he died in the 73rd year of his life. So he did live to die in his prime. This is ironic (or coincidental) because the VERY FIRST computer program Herb wrote was on finding prime numbers. This was in the early 70’s when he was working on his master’s degree in Computer Science. At that time computers were pretty clunky and programming was done by punching holes in cards. Can any of you remember that?

I bring all of this up because as I remember Herb (we were married for 15 years (not a prime number)) and we shared a wonderful daughter…Marisa. And, it is clear to me that he was a prime human being.

What I remember about Herb, besides the prime numbers, is what a very intelligent, clever and funny man he was. In the late 60’s he joked the reason West Virginians were having a big UPSET about teaching evolution in schools was because they were the first generation of West Virginians that could read. He and his family were West Virginians, so he could say that.

Herb wasn’t like any man I had known before …. he built his own stereo system from a HeathKit (raise your hand if you remember those). He even did his own car repairs. He was an officer in the United States Airforce during the Vietnam War and was stationed in Arkansas preparing to send atomic warheads on Titan II missiles to Russia. He always told me he would call me first before he turned the key. We tried LSD together and we, like many of our generation, loved the original Star Trek TV Show.

Once, while in a gas station, our car caught fire because in those days you could smoke when your car was getting gassed up. The attendant was smoking. After the fire started, I recall the attendant running away, and yelling that the car was going to blow up. But, Herb jumped into the car and drove it away from the pump. The flame went out. The car didn’t blow up. Herb was the hero.

When he completed his tour with the Air Force we traveled for 3 months to Europe on $5 a day. We were quite the team. I came up with crazy ideas and he would execute them. We had the adventure of a lifetime. After that we got serious about our lives and went to grad school at the University of Arkansas.

We were big smokers back then … rolling our own cigarettes to save money. After 10 years of marriage, we got pregnant and did quit smoking. I think he quit smoking many times after that as well.

Herb and I had a wonderful marriage that died a natural death after 15 years. We also had a great divorce. We both remarried. Our lives went their separate ways but we always had Marisa in common and those 15 years. AND, I am still obsessed with Prime Numbers.