No Poems for Giants

As Luther grew, he became a phenomenon to others and there was a natural curiosity about him. People wanted to see this giant boy of Frazer for themselves. When Luther was younger, he made appearances at commercial exhibitions, parades, business openings, and other celebrations, traveling across the country and meeting famous movie personalities, politicians, athletes and celebrities including the great Stan Musial himself. Clyde and Marcia were very careful about deciding the events in which Luther would participate, guarding him against the “circus” atmosphere and “poke and look” affairs that often featured unusual people. Neither they nor Luther wished him to become the star of a freak show or carnival. Most of his appearances were regional, with travel accomplished by train. However, he did make several trips by plane to New York and to California when he was in junior high school. By the time Luther started high school, he was a very well traveled person who had seen more of the country than Ryan thought he ever would. Luther also had grown tired of the special trips by then and his parents and he quietly decided that his travels should be drastically reduced while he was in high school in spite of the modest monetary return that accrued to the trips. The decision was facilitated by the fact that Luther had grown to such an enormous size that he no longer traveled long distances very well. Another factor was that the trips interrupted any semblance he had for a normal life. And finally, Luther wanted a chance to stay in Frazer while in high school and enjoy a regular the life at Frazer High. The consequence of all this was that he made very few special trips while in high school. He knew that he could always make himself available for appearances at places if he chose to, but he eschewed the opportunities, opting instead for a routine home life.

The larger he grew, the poorer the fit for Luther with most things. He learned to duck somewhat gracefully into rooms as he passed through doorways, and he learned to beware of chandeliers and lighting fixtures hanging from ceilings. Ceiling fans were a natural enemy and fortunately there weren't an abundance of those around. He was likely to be tangled in cobwebs in any room he walked into for the first time. He disliked rooms with low ceilings and anything less than eight feet, and later nine feet, made him uncomfortable. The school room ceilings were high enough to avoid the problem; however seating for Luther was another matter. The high school officials had built several special chairs for him, strategically placing them at the back of the class rooms in which he would spend time during the school term. Another strategy was to boost a sturdy chair to a reasonable height by placing large, wooden blocks under it.

A special concern for his family and for Ryan was how to transport him. This was eventually resolved by modifying the front seat in Ryan’s car, an innovation designed by Ryan’s engineer brother. The design was so successful that Clyde Brightwell reconstructed the interior of his car in the same manner, thus allowing Luther some modicum of comfort while being driven. A similar accommodation for seating was made at the Palace Theater by the owner Abe Greenberg.

When he began his sophomore year in high school, Luther, whose growth was now being carefully tracked by doctors in Frazer and in St. Louis, measured seven feet eleven inches tall and weighed 350 pounds. Everyone in the school knew him and he was becoming well known throughout the state. All the teachers and staff at the school treated him with unique caution and care, trying to help him "fit" into a world he had outgrown years before. He had enormous feet that were encased in shoes that looked like leather baskets with seams on top. He had to go up and down stairs by fitting his feet sideways on the stair treads. His legs were long and heavy looking, and slightly bowed in several places. His torso was short for his height, giving him a short-waisted appearance. His hands were straight and looked stiff, and his arms were slightly angled from his body, giving an overall impression of awkwardness. He was normally proportioned, but that didn't mean perfectly proportioned, and his size exaggerated the irregularities. He was usually dressed in a pair of cotton or wool trousers, often dark in color, and his shirt was always a long sleeve one. Because all of his clothes by this time were specially made for him, they looked not only large, but different. He had dark brown hair and his face looked innocent, with dark brown eyes that were lively and friendly. Heavy rimmed glasses rested on his face and it was clear from the thickness of the lenses that he had an eyesight problem. As he prepared for his senior year, Luther stood eight feet five inches tall and weighed 385 pounds.