Harvey's Hero

To Hollywood Haberdasher Harvey Othel Knox, 45, picking a college for stepson Ronnie was simply a business transaction--like selling a $250 suit. A handsome 180-pounder, long-legged (6 ft. 1 in.) Ronnie was one of the hottest high-school backfield stars ever to hit Southern California. Some 27 colleges were bidding for his services. For Harvey, the only question was: Which institution of higher education would be willing to pay the right price?

Harvey mused over the bright promises. Was a brand-new convertible right now better, for example, than the guarantee of a future job in the oil industry? It was a tough problem. The most intriguing offers seemed to come from partisans of the University of California at Berkeley. Did Ronnie want to be a writer? All right--someone at Berkeley promised him a job as sportswriter on the Berkeley Gazette. Was he interested in advertising? Fine. Alumni among the admen would be glad to get Ronnie a job in an agency. And for more immediate pin-money needs, Berkeley offered the maximum student grants-in-aid and top priority for writing jobs at the university's proposed million-dollar TV station. Along with everything else, of course, he would get an education--even a degree.

The Kentucky Fort. Father Harvey decided that the U. of C. had his boy's best interests at heart, so last year, with Harvey looking over his shoulder, Ronnie signed on the dotted line. Cracked a sportswriter: "Harvey acts as if the kid's first name is Fort." As a freshman, Ronnie turned in a creditable job in the classroom and on the football field. But at varsity practice this spring, Head Coach Lynn Waldorf still showed an uncommon fondness for his holdover varsity quarterback, Paul Larson, who happened to be last season's leading collegiate ground-gainer. Father Harvey filed a loud and public demurrer. His boy was not appreciated, he said. What was more, all those fine promises were turning out to be fakes, and Ronnie's All-America passing arm had even been put to work washing windows, like any muscle-headed tackle earning his college keep. He and Ronnie were capable of transferring their talents elsewhere, Harvey reminded "Pappy" Waldorf ominously.

The Happy Loser. Last week Ronnie made good Harvey's threat. The boy turned up as a transfer student at U.C.L.A., U. of C.'s arch rival. U.C.L.A., his stepfather explained, has "courses more conducive to his learning." In the process of changing schools, although he has merely switched to another branch of the same university, Ronnie has lost a year's eligibility as a football player, but Harvey Knox is willing to pay the penalty in return for a chance to see Ronnie perform for two years under U.C.L.A. Coach "Red" Sanders. "I like him," said Harvey simply.

The loser in the deal, Coach Waldorf, took the blow philosophically, even left a candle in the window in the event Ronnie Knox changed his mind again."Sure we'd take Ronnie back," said Pappy. "But let's transfer the old man to U.C.L.A."

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