Of Torn, Temple & Taylor
Iconic actor graduated from Taylor High School
By JANNA ZEPP | Courtesy photo
Shortly after our October/November issue hit the stands, I received an anonymous phone call from a lovely gentleman who said he very much enjoyed my story on Rip Torn, an American character actor who was born in Temple. Said anonymous gent liked the story, but he pointed out, rightly, that I had not mentioned the fact that Torn grew up in Taylor (Williamson County) and graduated a proud Taylor Duck back in 1948.
Indeed, I was remiss in omitting the fine metropolis of Taylor. I did not find it pertinent to mention in the amount of editorial space with which I had to work. The important thing at the time to me was that Torn took his first vital breath in Bell County, as our content is geared toward Bell Co. residents. I shall, hence-forth, be mindful that our residents often come to us from other parts of Texas, as do I.
I am a Smith County refugee. I was born in San Marcos and grew up in Tyler. I have lived all over the Lone Star State, including Killeen, as well as in Illinois, Wyoming, Montana and Northern Europe. I have visited Taylor once or twice.
I even got asked to Taylor High School’s prom back in 1983 by a real nice young man I met at a state student council convention in Austin, but my father would not allow it as it was too far of a drive and he was not in the mood at the time to make the trip to chaperone the date.
Speaking of Taylor High School and the mighty fighting Taylor Ducks, Salado High School’s Eagle varsity football team mopped the floor with the Mean Green Duck Machine at SHS’s 2021 Homecoming game to the tune of 55-17, if memory serves correctly.
Sidebar: The Eagles got stung at this year’s HOCO game against the Academy High School Bumblebees, I am sorry to say. What I know about sports can be fit in a Rhode Island shot glass, so this is the extent of my professional sports reporting. I hope you enjoyed it.
Taylor is a fine municipality, but I confess, outside our anonymous gentleman caller’s tip, my brief, high school almost-romance, a one-time visit to a Taylor/Hutto-area biker dive bar back in ‘04, and the SHS HOCO Duck Slaughter of ’21, I honestly know very little about Big T.
If any of y’all know what else is great about Taylor, shoot me an email or call me and leave your name with your message so that I might credit you for a possible Day Trippin’ feature suggestion. The economic success of Taylor tourism might well depend on it.
Coming up in the next Being Central Texan, I’ll share about my time living in Killeen and working at Fort Hood, since I am a Killeen-Ex (run that together and it sounds like a famous tissue company) and a veteran’s wife. I’ll also outline for you the new direction we’re taking with this particular Tex Appeal feature and how you might contribute.
In the meantime, if you have questions or comments about stories we’ve published, life in Central Texas, or just observations about Texas in general, write me via email at editor@texappealmag.com and I’ll do my best to make you famous.
