Steve Bryant – Thoughts on Success, Music and Media

Since the statute of limitations has long since expired on this and because most of the people who were involved are probably dead, except me, I wanted to post this. Hey, it is National Teacher Appreciation Day. I talked about this on my talk radio show once and was swamped with calls and emails. Some were supportive but many were just disgusted. Yeah, like they’ve led such a virtuous life.

I had a 2 year affair with one of my high school teachers. I was a minor when it started but turned 18 while we were together. So yes, she was breaking the law. But it didn’t seem like that while we were together. I was always kind of odd man out in high school. I went to rock and folk clubs in Philadelphia and New York all the time. I also went to classical concerts and Broadway shows. My part-time jobs included toll collecting on the Atlantic City Expressway and a very successful business doing puppet shows and giving guitar lessons. I wasn’t your average kid by a long shot.

It isn’t surprising to me that I was attracted to older women and vice versa. I met the woman at a folk nightclub in Philadelphia. She was surprised that they let me in since she knew how old I was. I looked much older in those days so I had no problem getting into “adult” places. Especially since I used my home darkroom to create one of the most believable fake IDs you ever saw. Sweet!

We sat together and realized we had a lot in common. She offered me a drive home and soon we were an item. To hide our relationship from everyone, we dated far from our little town. We often drove an hour to go to the movies or have dinner. One night, we went to a little historic café in deep Southern New Jersey. While we were eating, a school official came in, arm-in-arm with another student.

My date wanted to leave but I just got up and confronted the guy. Even though they were holding hands when they came in, he repeated the classic (and useless) line every guy uses when he’s caught in a compromising position. “This isn’t what it looks like,” he said. I immediately asked him to not insult my intelligence and said it was exactly what it looked like.

Since he knew the teacher and I were also guilty of having a relationship, he said if I didn’t inform on him, he would stay quiet on us. Fair enough, it was a classic standoff. I believe he did wind up marrying the young woman, although it was years after she graduated.

My lady and I didn’t have such a happy ending. She was talking about getting married when I got out of high school and helping me while I was in college. Great, I was 18 and going to be a kept man. The whole thing was just too much for me and we went our separate ways. She was a great person and I hope she found happiness.

A lot of student/teacher relationships are just wrong. It’s obvious that the older man or woman is just taking advantage of their student. This wasn’t the case with us. She was terrific and we went to lot of interesting places together. I took her to the Fillmore East in NYC and the Main Point in Philly quite often. We both loved Cape May and stayed there many times. Obviously it was too far from my little town to be frequented by any of the local citizens – at least back then. Or maybe we just got lucky.

She liked rock and folk music as much as I did. She also enjoyed the many experimental theater shows we attended. I can’t imagine a woman my age enjoying any of that.

I know what she did was illegal. But don’t judge her. I was a pretty smart kid and I knew what I was doing. I wasn’t forced to do anything. And she was attractive enough to find someone her own age. Since I’ve always been “interesting looking” at best, I imagine she was attracted to my eclectic interests and off-center humor. The women my own age just thought I was weird.

I lost touch with her right after high school and have no idea where or how she wound up. She did a lot for my self esteem and I hope she had as happy a life as I did. (Oh yeah, she was built like a brick s***house!)