Shortly after, Larry and Gene became lead singers for a rock group called People. Larry grew his nearly white hair out down to his shoulders. Capitol Records signed them to a contract. “I Love You” became a national hit.

During the summers, Campbell High had an evening “club” for its students, Buc’s Cove (we were the Bucaneers). Among other activities, we had dances. Before they hit it big, People sang at Buc’s Cove. We always had teachers as chaperones at school dances.

Senor Sanchez was one of our Spanish teachers. He was chaperoning the night People was playing. I stood on the edge of the crowd and watched Senor Sanchez watch Larry as he danced, pranced and sang, his wild mane of nearly white hair taking on a life of its own. Not a mind reader, I tried to interpret Senor Sanchez’ sad expression as he watched Larry, who, academically, was brilliant and gifted. My interpretation: “What a waste of such a gifted young man! He could go far in a respectable field! Instead, he’s wasting it on rock ‘n roll!” I watched Larry watch Senor Sanchez’s sad expression. For me, it was a vivid picture of disappointing your elders, something I would wrestle with for years.

My sister Pam was a year behind Larry in school. After high school, she set her sights on becoming an actress. She moved into a large Victorian-type house near San Jose State. Larry lived upstairs. Pam lived downstairs. Pam told me magical stories of singing a song and Larry would bound down the stairs completing the line.

I became a Christian during my senior year of high school. When I got to college, the Jesus Movement was in full bloom, though it only nicked us in San Luis Obispo on the Central California coast.

We did hear about Jesus moving powerfully in Southern California. Music was playing a strong role in bringing young people to faith. At the forefront of the contemporary Christian music scene was Larry Norman.

Larry (and Gene) had left People my senior year of high school. While the rest of the group embraced Scientology, Larry and Gene did not. Larry had been a Christian since childhood. He started performing and recording as a solo artist.

My sophomore year, word came our way that Larry was performing at a concert in Los Angeles. A few friends and I drove down to the concert, picking up my sister Pam, who had since moved to Venice to join the East-West Players, the first Asian American theater company. After Larry performed, I went backstage to tell Larry that my sister was in the audience.

Our conversation went something like this:

“Hi, Larry, I’m Paul Tokunaga from Campbell High School. I’m Pam’s brother.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m a Christian ”

“No, you’re not!”

“Actually, I am a Christian ”