Jerry Long, the only attorney in Humboldt, sits behind a vintage desk surrounded by mementos.
Jerry, 74, graduated from HHS in 1963, then enrolled at KU Law.
He likes to tell about the time he joined legendary Jayhawk basketball coach Ted Owens to scout a pair of prep players, the Cubs Earl Seyfert and Steve Honeycutt.
The Seyfert kid will have a future in the Big Eight, Owens told Jerry. Honeycutt isnt Division I, maybe Division II.
Several years later, Ted admitted his mistake, Jerry recalled. Seyfert and Honeycutt starred at Kansas State. Ted said he lost several potential bonuses because Those Humboldt kids beat us every time.
JERRY WAS born in Wichita near the end of World War II, while his parents worked at Boeing. After the war, his father, Ed Long, a physician, opened an office in Humboldt in 1951.
Since a youngster, Jerry had dreamed of being an attorney and skipped most activities his senior year to concentrate on a head start to college by earning 17 hours at Chanute Junior College.
I was one of the first high school kids to do that.
The regimen permitted Jerry to complete undergraduate business administration studies in three years, and move on to KU Law School.
A favorite high school memory is when he and Marlene (nee Johnson) Weilert won a dance contest at Humboldts old Teen Town on the west side of the downtown square. They followed that up with a second-place win at a state contest before cameras at a TV station in Joplin.
Still light on his feet, Jerry recently joined a Zumba class at the Humboldt Fitness Center. But, I use my own dance moves, he said.
For many years, Jerry maintained a law office in Kansas City, in partnership with his former law school roommate. When his partner retired a few years ago, that was a catalyst for Jerry to spend more time in his Humboldt office, now Monday through Thursday, with his KC office hours confined to Fridays.
I drive down every Monday, the 90-minute trip accompanied by old Sonny and Cher tunes.
Im happy to be back in Humboldt, in part because many of his clients bring up stories about his dad, Doc Long, a Humboldt pillar for decades.
How much longer will Jerry keep this back-and-forth schedule?
As long as I can drive. Besides, my girlfriend said if I come back to Kansas City full time, were through.
