Johnny Mathis: You know, I think about that now and I’m amazed, because there was never a time that we didn’t have what we needed. We weren’t poor, we just didn’t have any money! So my mom and my dad worked as domestic workers for all their lives, and supported the family that way. They were fortunate to work for people who were quite well off, so we had a lot of stuff that was given to us. I was, for instance, very fortunate to be taken under the wing by one of their employers. His name is Garfield Merner, and he was on the board of several Southern colleges and offered me scholarships. But unfortunately, I was never able to take advantage of them, because I only stayed a year and a half at San Francisco State College before I got an opportunity to make my first recording.