35 Comments
User's avatar
J. Curtis's avatar

Incredibly tender and real. I’m curious how your classmates would describe (or remember) you?

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

thanks J! i think the narrator and myself are different stories…narrator I would say is a pretty chill guy who was well-liked. myself, I was probably remembered as an arrogant prick who had little to be arrogant about hahah

J. Curtis's avatar

Ha! Sounds like you and I have something in common 😬

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

if your live streams are any indication, you were at least probably incredibly handsome !

J. Curtis's avatar

I’m not sure how to respond but I did think of my favorite Dolly Parton quote: “It takes a lot of time and money to look this cheap, honey”

adv's avatar

Good read! I love the transformation from the ‘weird’ kid to the multi-faceted successful adult. Well done

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

isn’t that all we all are??? thanks for reading adv!!

Rostislava Pankova-Karadjova's avatar

It’s been a while since I’ve read such a captivating story on Substack. Every sentence propelled me to read the next. The strangeness of Arty and his confidence in what he believes important, his out-of-the-boxness — refreshing and wonderful 😊

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

thank you so much Rotislava! what a great compliment. i definitely try to more the story forward sentence by sentence, it’s something I always keep in mind so I appreciate it. thanks for subscribing! there’s plenty more stories like this one on my substack

Rebecca Rhoads's avatar

A perfect capture of the noise (no pun intended, pun intended) of high school extending into the years beyond. Entertaining as always, Clancy.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

well said rebecca. glad this one didn’t let you down!

J.K. Ghillis's avatar

All things at times must go through a change

From white to black, or part of the range

But when dolphins turn men

And men squeak in return

Intriguing just morphs into plain strange

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

REVERSE ! hahah love it JK, thanks as ever.

Diana  Goniou's avatar

I have taught many children with the name Arthur (in London though) and never thought to shorten it to Arty. But Arty is a perfect name for a dolphin-kin character. I enjoyed this; loved the positivity, the quirkiness, and the puzzlement in the end. Well done.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

thanks Diana! yeah I think it's probably an American rarity. But 'Arty' is definitely a shortened Arthur in the USA, I am pretty sure. thanks for reading! positivity and quirkiness are my things

Sharron Bassano's avatar

I would have loved to meet Arty. A very singular soul. I suspect he is an extra terrestrial doing research here. Great story Clancy.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

you're right, he definitely was extraterrestrial! explained a lot... maybe not the judge judy thing though hahah. thanks sharron!

C.S. Mee's avatar

I choose to believe you wrote all of this just for that last sentence

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

you might be correct

Rosie B's avatar

I love when people have a really specific interest, their eyes light up when they talk about it. I was the frog kid. Great story!

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

thanks Rosie ☺️. did you parlay the frog thing into a career??? hahah

Rosie B's avatar

Haha no and I deeply regret it!

Chen Rafaeli's avatar

Everything strange is intriguing as long as we want or dare to look closer. Sometimes doesn't depend on us.

Yes. The world is chock full of intriguing people.

Thank you, Clancy -I enjoyed the story 💫

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

it is, isn't it? some of them are right here on Substack. thanks for reading Chen!

Richbee's avatar

Art would have a good time with click language of Swahili. Dolphinese and Chinese maybe have something in common. I like the learning curve though video technology and audio editing a la Star Wars. Good read for a beginner.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

thank you richard! it all kind of came together as I wrote this.

Stephanie Sweeney's avatar

Intriguing people are the best kind.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

aren’t they?? substack is full of them. thanks for reading stephanie! good to see you around!

George Kalantzis's avatar

I like this Art guy

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

i think he’d like you too george. thanks for reading

Tracy's avatar

I find it refreshing that the little beasts known as children can occasionally appreciate and even admire one amongst them that is different instead of attempting to peck the anomaly to pieces. Good story.

Clancy Steadwell's avatar

agreed. hopefully most people are as perceptive as the narrator. thanks for your readership as always, tracy

Parker McCoy's avatar

Nice story. I knew a kid in high school we all found strange. He wore a trench coat and seemed like the type to blow up the school but well, he never did. He's just a regular dude now. You never know about people. Excellent tale.

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Mar 2, 2025
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Clancy Steadwell's avatar

the hardest and best thing to know. thanks for reading!!