Clarence was born in Illinois, about 120 miles west of Chicago, in a small town called Milledgeville, population about 750. He is now 84. Here is Clarence's radio experience in his own words:

    In 1922 or early 1923, the Chicago newspaper published circuit diagrams of radio receivers as broadcasting was just becoming popular. I knew nothing about radio, but my father built one of the famous crystal sets with coils wound on a Quaker Oats box. It never worked and thinking back now, I believe it was because we did not find a sensitive spot on the crystal. We just presumed that all you had to do was touch the cat whisker to the crystal. Since we were about 100 miles from the nearest station, we believed that was why we didn't hear anything.
   Then he built a one tube receiver using a WD11 which had a 1.5 volt filament supplied by dry cells. Of course the plate supply was also a dry battery. On March 3, 1923, we heard our first station, WOC in Davenport Iowa, a distance of about 100 miles. Tuning around we next heard WSB, Atlanta, Georgia.  Later, one stageof audio amplification was added. We heard stations all over the country east of the Rockies and I have even recorded we heard KHJ in Los Angeles.
    Sometime, possibly in 1924, WOC announced that they would give code lessons so two other boys and myself would rush home from high school and listen to those lessons. That was my first contact with code. Incidentally, one of the other boys now lives in Texas and we still keep in regular contact on the bands.
    We moved to California in 1926 and while working in a food market I took a correspondence course in radio. In connection with that I built another crystal set, and this one worked. Later, I built a tube set using a UVL199 tube.
    In 1932, I joined the Volunteer Communication Reserve. (The name was later changed to Naval Communication Reserve) The main requirement was that we obtain an amateur license and the purpose was to learn Naval radio procedure. So we studied and practiced and in 1933 I got my first license. The examination required passing 10-WPM code, drawing a circuit diagram of a receiver and of a transmitter and answering some questions on rules and regulations. The two diagrams counted for half the test.

    Thank you Clarence for relating an interesting story of the beginnings of radio. And chickens, if you think about it, Clarence got his license when he was 25 and has been a ham for 58 years, besides that he worked for RCA Communications at Point Reyes as a receiving technician for 36 years.  Experience talks and I for one listen when Clarence tells me something. Plus he told me how to properly operate my HF rig.