Growing up in Fort Worth during the 1950s never lacked in 
excitement for David Murph. In his memoir, Murph recalls a 
mischievous childhood punctuated by adventures in driving, 
occasional acts of accidental arson, more than one trip to the 
jailhouse, and countless other tales. The cast of characters includes 
not only friends and family but also famous figures such as John 
Scopes, Bobby Morrow, and Frankie Avalon. Murph details an early 
interest in politics and an unintentional affinity for troublemaking that 
had more to do with an active imagination and intense curiosity than 
any ill will. His adventures included broken windows, brushes with 
blindness, bull riding, and a pet spider monkey, alongside lessons 
about life and death and the importance of family. Murph's story 
brings to life a time when television was new and exciting, parents 
sided with the law, and people were to be trusted more often than not. 
As a close friend wrote in his senior yearbook, "it would take a book 
to recall our adventures." Murph fondly recalls his active youth with 
clarity and humor.

    In many ways, though, Murph's childhood was not all that unusual. 
Born in 1943 in Shreveport, Louisiana, Murph moved to Tyler, Texas, 
at the age of two with his family. He recalls moving to Fort Worth at 
the age of seven, feeling excited about his new home, and making 
new friends in the neighborhood and at school. In a neighborhood 
established around the time of World War II, he and his friends played 
war in their backyards. The child of a geologist and a homemaker, 
Murph vividly recalls the strong influence they were in his life.

    Murph's story follows him from early childhood through high 
school graduation and leaving for college at the University of Texas. 
His enthusiasm for leaving home is tempered by the reality of what it 
means to leave his parents and younger brother behind—a sentiment 
familiar to any college-bound student. 

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DAVID MURPH is the Director of Church Relations at Texas 
Christian University. He graduated from the University of Texas at 
Austin, received his Master of Divinity degree from Lexington 
Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. from TCU. He and his wife, Jean, 
make their home in Grapevine.