And now, my other MIA VIP: Elizabeth Anne Shirey-Mizobuchi, a.k.a. Beth. When we met in Gainesville, FL, in 1985, Beth was the accompanist for and best friend of my girlfriend at the time, Vanessa Kissel. [Vanessa isn't missing, tho. Hi, 'Nessa!] When I needed a roommate to help pay the rent, ‘Nessa suggested Beth and believe it or not, it worked out fantastically well.  We became friends and re-connected now and then up until about twelve years ago.  Since then, nadda.

Beth is a (damn!) smart, artistic, empathic, sensual Earth-mother type.  She introduced me to lentils, jazz-rock fusion and Petty’s Past Pad (a former Tom Petty residence in Gainesville that was converted into a party/jam house), among other things. After completing a masters at UF in Gainesville (in English, I believe), Beth lived in Tampa for a bit (the rest of her family was there at the time) and then taught at Vanderbilt for a couple years. I visited her there on my way back from San Diego when I got out of the Navy, the famous “Scott² and Chuck (minus Chuck) North American Tour.”

Me and Beth in Nashville, January, 1990

After Nashville, Beth went to Japan for a couple years to teach ESL.  [I lived in Japan from late '86 through late '88, and it frustrates me that that I've had three good friends live there also, but after I left.  Sure would have been nice to have Beth, Roy and/or Steve nearby while I was in Yokosuka!] I believe she worked for the conglomerate Sumitomo, which I remember because a gigantic “Sumitomo” sign along the western shore of Tokyo Bay is visible from miles out to sea, and it welcomed us home when the USS Reeves returned to port.  While there, Beth met an engineer named Toshikazu Mizobuchi (Mizo) and they eventually got married.

Beth and Mizo, Three Years Later

[Now let me take a moment here and say that Mizo is one of the luckiest guys on the planet. 'Cause Beth's one of the best people I've ever known -- beautiful, brilliant, creative, capable, and loving. I'm very grateful for having had her as a friend, and will always consider her one of the most important people in my life whether we re-connect or not.]

After Japan, Beth visited Gainesville a couple times. I remember watching July 4th fireworks with Beth and Mizo one year, from the parking lot of the Harn Museum of Art. I’d invited along a coworker with a similar tale; she’d gone to China to teach ESL and came home with a Chinese husband. I figured they’d get on great (and the ladies did), but it was a little funny (and educational) to watch the two expatriate hubbies interact (both engineers, but one staunchly capitalist and the other staunchly communist).

The last time we saw each other was in ‘96 or ‘97.  Beth stopped in Gainesville with her new daughter and had lunch with me and Elizabeth. They were headed back to Japan for a couple more years, if I recall, as Mizo had landed a good job, but they expected to return to the US after his contract expired.

Beth’s another one that I would expect to be all over the Internet. However, the only evidence I’ve been able to find of their continued existence is the minutes of a PTA meeting in South Carolina a few years ago, where Mizo’s name appears.  Other than that, I have no leads.

Beth — are you out there?!  Anyone know where she is?!  Please contact me, or pass on my contact info: Scott Jones, PO Box 62, Zephyrhills, FL 33539, 813-782-5062, hsjones@sisna.com. Excelsior!