I met John Junker in 6th grade at Eisenhower school. My earliest memories are being pummeled by him in his basement. He had a boxing ring down there -- although I remember it as roughly a square carpet surrounded by various pieces of furniture. I remember he had a chest full of boxing gloves. You could usually find a pair that fit just right.
   Adjacent to his boxing ring was a dark room which his father had constructed. This was my first introduction to developing photography. While I am widely known to be a photo enthusiast, John probably has me beat in this area, as of 2011. John owns nearly a dozen cameras and has submitted hundreds of pictures to Flickr. His pictures have been used in various capacities by other professionals on other websites. John has also uploaded hundreds of videos to youtube.
   As of 2010, John retired as a school teacher, but knowing him, he wont stay retired for long. If you ride a bike anywhere in northern Illinois, you just might cross paths with him.
   John submitted the July 19, 1971 Hammond Times article you see below, citing seven students who received scholarships that year: Leslie Anderson, Barbara Conley, Joanne Crouch, Cynthia Twardosz, Marilyn Vickers, Pam Wolszon, and John Junker. John was not pictured in the 1971 yearbook because he was undergoing life-saving brain surgery at the time, but I did manage to insert his senior photo on page 178. You can find John Junker on facebook and classmates.com. And if you want to be impressed, check this out: Athlinks. Here are some other pictures of John: 2008

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