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TI: So let's talk about you growing up. What kind of kid were you growing up? How would you describe yourself?

MF: How would I describe myself? How would other people describe me? [Laughs]

TI: Yeah, sometimes I ask that question. So how would a friend describe Mike Forrester?

MF: Most likely stubborn, mostly likely a little bit reckless. I didn't like school, it just kind bored me. I know my parents were wondering if I wasn't too intelligent, but found out later that I was, and I guess I was just getting kind of bored.

TI: Why was that? Because, yeah, over and over again, all the tests you took, like IQ tests, showed you were incredibly intelligent.

MF: 150.

TI: Yeah, really smart. But in these early years, you struggled.

MF: Yeah, I just basically didn't study, and I remember I got left back one time, I had to go summer school. Just had no interest in it.

TI: Now in terms of the family, was education a priority? Was it something that they encouraged you?

MF: No, not really. I just, when I grew up, it was kind of, I think the term today is "free range parenting." I was just left to myself. We'd go out and we'd play hockey, roller hockey, we'd come in when it got dark, and no one worried about us, we'd just come and go and stuff. It was kind of free range parenting when I was very young, ten years old, I used to ride the New York subway to go down to my cousin's house all by myself.

TI: In your memoir you mentioned that, I think at some point, when you were in your early teens, your parents were a little concerned about the group that you hung out with, your friends?

MF: Yeah, well, we just hung out, young kids, kind of like, not a formal gang, but nowadays they'd call it a gang. But yeah, they were concerned. In fact, I understand the main reason why my father decided to move from Queens to Levittown, was to get me out of that environment.

TI: And in looking back, do you think that was a good thing for you in terms of your life, or do you think it mattered that much? I know you were upset, I know you did not want to leave.

MF: Yeah, well, I had friends. You know, at that age, your friends are the most important thing in the world, right? I think the thing that... I don't think it made much difference. I think the biggest thing that made the difference to me is when I went into boot camp in the Air Force. When I went into the Air Force and into boot camp, it was another world. I said, "These people are nuts." [Laughs]

TI: Well, before you moved to Levittown, there was a story that I just wanted to capture again to show kind of, I think in terms of what you were capable of. It's a story about where you decided you wanted to win the math award.

MF: Oh, yeah, yeah.

TI: So tell that story.

MF: I'm very poor at languages, but I'm very good at math and stuff like that. So they had a math medal, in fact, I almost forgot about that. They had this math medal and I wanted to win that medal. And so it was dependent, New York State had what they called the Regents Exam, the regents would give you exam and stuff. And the person who made the highest score got the math medal at the school. Well, I made a hundred percent on the thing, if I remember correctly, I think it is. And I was all excited and going to surprise my parents, and they didn't give the math medal that year. So it kind of crushed me and stuff like that. And thinking back, I think it's most likely that the nuns -- I went to a Catholic school -- said, "This kid has not done much all this time," and stuff like that, all of a sudden comes up with a hundred percent. So I think they kind of thought I cheated. [Laughs] Just thinking back on it.

TI: But what you did, though, was you determined you wanted to win this, so you actually studied. You actually applied yourself.

MF: Yeah, did problems and stuff like that.

TI: By applying yourself, you went, I mean, you were perceived as this, perhaps, not stellar student.

MF: "Not stellar" would be very kind. [Laughs]

TI: No, I love that story because, again, it just shows, for whatever reason, the environment you were in, you didn't necessarily apply yourself.

MF: Yeah. My parents never sat down and said, "Do your homework." They kind of just let us grow up. I think it's mainly because after the war, my father came back, he developed an allergy to oil, so he couldn't work as a mechanic anymore and he drove a bus. He had five kids, and when you drive a bus and you have five kids, he worked a lot of overtime hours and stuff like that.

<End Segment 5> - Copyright © 2016 Densho. All Rights Reserved.