James Henry Kroll, a former comedy writer turned teacher, kept the laughs coming when he accepted his Golden Apple Award on April 10.
But that's not what caught retired teacher Henry J. Fitzgibbon's eye when he read The News-Press coverage of the annual gala. Fitzgibbon was more interested in the story's reference to Kroll's affinity for a traditional male fashion accessory that's back on trend — bow ties.
Kroll, who teaches civics and U.S. history at Mariner Middle School in Cape Coral, wore a bow tie at the Golden Apple Awards in Fort Myers. He wore a bow tie the day Foundation for Lee County Public Schools officials surprised him in the classroom. He wore a bow tie for his official Golden Apple Award portrait.
Fitzgibbon, 88, a fan of bow ties from his days at Northland College in Ashland, Wis., sent a letter to Kroll at school, offering to donate most of his bow tie collection.
He sent Kroll 13 ties, keeping a few he wore during his time with the Southwest Florida Symphony Chorus.
Thus began a beautiful — and mirthful — friendship.
Fitzgibbon first wore bow ties while working at Jake Skalls' Colonial Wonder Bar, a supper club in Appleton, Wis., in the summers of 1948, '49 and '50. He wore a bow tie with his white jacket.
When Fitzgibbon graduated from college in 1951, he wore a houndstooth suit and a bow tie.
"I wanted to be different," Fitzgibbon said.
He wore bow ties after college, while attending the National Academy of Theater Arts in Pleasantville, N.Y. From the late 1950s into the 1960s, throughout the 16 years Fitzgibbon lived in Manhattan and performed on Broadway before getting an office job, he wore bow ties.
"I just felt very comfortable in a bow tie," said Fitzgibbon, who returned to his home state to teach vocal performance before retiring in 1989 and moving to Fort Myers in 1991. "I very rarely wore a long tie."
Like Fitzgibbon, Kroll, 38, first wore bow ties as a job requirement, at Sony movie theaters. Years later, the Virginia native — who thinks it takes a certain kind of guy to wear bow ties — came across a Vineyard Vines catalogue, with its fun preppy style, and bought a pale blue bow tie speckled with tiny feet.
"I got it because I don't like to wear shoes," Kroll said. But it took some trying to figure out how to tie it.
"I'm watching the clock ... I'm thinking, 'I will not be defeated. So help me God this thing is going on,' " he added. "Eventually it did."
Kroll, who has a couple dozen bow ties thanks to Fitzgibbon's donation, wears them three to five days a week. Criminal defense attorney Peter Dennis wears them to court every day.
"I had a boss once who said that she didn't want me to wear bow ties," said Dennis, 36. "That day I went out and bought a dozen bow ties. I got sort of stubborn.
"That was probably six or seven years ago. Once I started to wear them, I got used to tying them. ... I see they're trendy now; that was not the case when I started wearing them."
Kroll has seen students wearing them and appreciates their style. So does Fitzgibbon.
"I think they're an acquired taste and you're making a statement by wearing one," he said.
BOW TIE TRIVIA
•A bit of history: Croatian soldiers in the 17th century wore long pieces of fabric to hold the collars of their shirts in place. French aristocrats adopted the look by using expensive fabrics and giving the fabric a more structured look.
•A few famous bow tie fans: James Bond, Alton Brown, Paul Simon, Pee-Wee Herman, Karl Marx, Winston Churchill, Bill Nye the Science Guy, Jerry Lewis
•Learn how to tie one: Visit youtube.com for tutorials.
