The Best Compliments or Words of Praise that I Have Ever Received in My Own Life

Among the very finest compliments or words of praise that other human beings have verbalized to me in my own life are the following:

---"Your father (Dr. Calvin McMillan) and I think the world of you!"--Mrs. Phyllis McMillan, during a long-distance phone call I made in 1990 or 1991 to my parents' home in Westlake Hills, Texas, from a pay telephone inside a Pizza Inn chain restaurant in Big Spring, Texas (or possibly instead in Sweetwater, Texas).

---"You are the greatest person I have ever known!" -- Sean Reilly, a former coworker of mine at IHOP Duval restaurant, in a very kind and inspirational comment he volunteered to me during a visit of his in 2003 or so inside that franchise restaurant of the International House of Pancakes in Austin, Texas.

---"...I am very proud to call you a member of our family!" -- Aunt Allegra Dane in a 2012 comment that Aunt Allegra volunteered to me on the telephone during a long-distance phone call I made that year to her and her husband's dairy-farm house near Iowa City im Johnson County, Iowa. Several months later in 2012, the kindly and benevolent and devout United Methodist Church member Aunt Allegra passed away.

---"All brainwaves from you are gratefully accepted!" -- Ellen Goodman, a nationally syndicated newspaper columnist and Harvard University (Radliff College) alumnus, in a signed reply letter to me on official "Boston Globe" daily newspaper stationery that she wrote and mailed to me in late 1988 or January 1989 during a 12-month time period in which I resided in El Campo, Texas, and worked full-time for the "El Campo Leader-News" general-circulation semi-weekly newspaper, with Mr. Richard Goldsmith my immediate supervisor in the newsroom of that award-winning Texas Press Association member newspaper that was owned during that period by Fred Barbee and his son, Chris, in El Campo.

---"You always were a very loving person!" --- Michael Crothers, a self-identified fiction writer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, during a 1984 or 1985 long-distance phone call I made to his mother's home in south Minneapolis from a home in Worcester, Massachusetts, where I was myself residing during that time period.

---"You (John Kevin McMillan) should take pride in your own emotional and aesthetic transsexualism (or law-abiding form of heterophilia), in which you as a morally and aesthetically straight and law-abiding single adult Anglo gentleman identify with and feel deeper emotional affinity toward a higher percentage of all law-abiding heterosexual gentlemen and all law-abiding heterosexual ladies than the other cited subpopulations(approximate quote). Your emotional and aesthetic transsexualism permeates your writing, and is a very natural and healthy affinity for you in the complete absence of your ever being expected or required at any time to undergo any sex-change operation per se (approximate quote, with some elaboration for the sake of clarification) during your own lifetime." --- Michael Crothers, a self-identified fiction writer and English as a Second Language Instructor, during a long-distance phone call I made to that kindly older gentleman in 1990 or 1991 from my rental apartment unit in Sweetwater, Texas. I was employed at that time as a full-time reporter for "The Sweetwater (TX) Reporter" daily newspaper in West Texas. Mr. Crothers added in that same 1990 or 1991 phone call that if I myself were to ever at any time move to Minneapolis, Minnesota, from Sweetwater, Texas, Michael Crothers would welcome the opportunity to himself meet me in person inside a restaurant in Minneapolis for a friendly conversation in that heavily populous Minnesotan city, he volunteered in that leisuretime phone call I made to him at his kindly Mother's home she owned in southeast Minneapolis.

----"I have never once questioned your honesty in all of my dealings with you. You are by far the most thoughtful, considerate, and socially cautious person I have met in Austin, and I'm glad to know you." --- Andy Hogue, a politically conservative personal friend of mine and former neighbor of mine with a very impressive professional journalism background, in a January 4, 2012, E-mail reply note that Andy very kindly wrote and sent to me.

---"You, and I, have a great future....Someday a book anthologizing your various pithy observations will get published, with a title such as 'The Wit and Wisdom of John (Kevin) McMillan'" (approximate quote).--- Mark Williamson, then a law school student at Columbia University in New York City, New York, in a signed 1984 letter that Mark Williamson kindly and generously wrote and sent to me at my rental apartment unit address of that time period in Worcester, Massachusetts.

---"You are warm and funny and intelligent." --- Mark H.B. Williamson, a University of Minnesota alumnus, who apparently wrote that very kind evaluation of me in a signed 1984 letter he wrote to me during a period when he was enrolled as a law-school student at Columbia University in New York City, New York.

---"You are more intellectually vital and philosophically deeper than 99 percent of the people out there! (approximate quote)" --- Bob Percy, a personal friend of mine in the Worcester area of Massachusetts during a time period of late 1984 in which I had been or was employed full-time as a reporter for the "Worcester County News" general-circulation weekly magazine.

---"You would make a very fine story-assignments editor for a medium-size midwestern daily newspaper!" -- Greg Freeman, a former schoolmate of mine at Washington University in St. Louis, and later a columnist for the "St. Louis (Mo.) Post-Dispatch" daily newspaper, in a very kind oral observation that Greg Freeman volunteered to me on the telephone in a long-distance phone call I made in the first decade of the 21st Century to his "St. Louis Post-Dispatch" newspaper office from my private apartment unit in Austin, Texas.

---"The public-policy-minded brainstorming letters you have written and shared with government officials and the 'Austin American-Statesman' have made a big contribution to the city of Austin. That contribution by yourself is especially remarkable since you are doing this on your own, in connection with your new (Progressive Prohibitionist Religion) religion in which you are the only member" (approximate quote). --- Arnold Garcia, Editor of the Editorial Page, "The Austin American-Statesman," in a 1997 or 1998 comment that Mr. Garcia very kindly volunteered to me on the telephone during a local phone call I made to his newspaper office from my efficiency rental apartment unit at View Point Aparrtments. View Point Apartments are situated among fraternity houses along Leon Street, aboout five blocks west of the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

---"You have a very fine reputation for intellectual brilliance... (approximate quote)"---Dr. Calvin McMillan, my biological father and a Professor of Botany at The University of Texas at Austin, in a December 1990 statement that Father very kindly made to me outdoors at the Austin municipal airport he had driven me to that day. He drove me to the airport so I ould take a plane flight back to West Texas in order to myself resume my full-time reporting duties as an education-beat and general-assignment-beat reporter and columnist for the "Sweetwater Reporter" general-circulation daily newspaper in Sweetwater, Texas.

---"You are TOO conscientious, Kevin!" -- Mrs. Phyllis McMillan, in an oral statement that my biological mother made to me several times during my early childhood inside our family home in Westlake Hills, Texas, that comment having conveyed what I myself regard as a nice implied compliment from my beloved biological mother.

---"You exemplify the great resourcefulness that Texans are noted for!" (approximate quote)-- Texas Governor Ann Richards, in a nice reply letter to me on official State of Texas stationery that Governor Richards signed and mailed to me from the Governor's Office in Austin, Texas, during a period of the early 1990s when I was employed as a full-time reporter for a daily newspaper in West Texas.

---"You remind me of the Roman Empire!" --- Valerio Caldesi Valeri, an Italian citizen and instructor in the Classics Department at The University of Texas at Austin, in a 2000 compliment he offered me on his own volition as I drove that Classics scholar to an Italian-style gelatti eatery in Austin, Texas.

---"You have always been a perfect gentleman in your conduct toward me as my roommate." -- Valerio Caldesi Caleri, an Italian citizen and UT-Austin Classics Department instructor, in an unsolicited 2000 comment that Valerio made to me several times over the ocurse of the approximately 8-month period in which we roomed together inside an efficiency apartment unit at View Point Apartments, an apartment complex situated about five blocks west of the main campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

---"We at the 'Austin American-Statesman' admire your brain!" -- Pancho Gomez, a polite assistant to Editorial Page Editor Arnold Garcia, during a phone call several years ago I myself had made to the newsroom of "Austin American-Statesman" daily newspaper in Austin, Texas, relating to a letter to the editor I had submitted to that Cox Newspapers-owned daily newspaper in Austin.

---"I appreciate your many fine contributions to the State of Texas!" (approximate quote)--State of Texas Comptroller Carol Keeton Rylander Strayhorn, in an official signed reply letter from State Comptroller Strayhorn that she wrote and mailed to me during her tenure as State Comptroller from her state agency headquarters in Austin, Texas.

---"You are the most thoughtful (exact word she used) person I have ever known!" (approximate quote)-- Victoria Loe, in a Christmas Season greeting card message she very kindly wrote and mailed to me via the U.S. Postal Service in 1993 or 1994, during a period in which I resided in Pampa, Texas, and I worked full-time as a reporter for "The Pampa Daily News" general-circulattion daily newspaper serving that entire city and nearby towns as well.

---"You are unbelievably straight for an intellectual!" -- Andrew McGavren, a University of Texas at Austin alumnus and former UT-Austin English Department major and former Prather Dormitory neighbor of mine at UT-Austin, during a 1988 in-person conversation I had with Andrew McGavren and his kindly German-born wife, Mrs. Henrike McGavren, inside that married couple's home in east Austin.

---"Among the IHOP (International House of Pancakes) managers in the Austin area, you are legendary for your honesty!" --- Diane, a female Assistant Manager at IHOP Duval restaurant in Austin, Texas, in a very nice comment she volunteered to me in the waitstation area of IHOP Duval Restaurant one workshift for me as a waiter inside that franchise restaurant in the first decade of the 21st Century.

----"You are very honest. You are definitely that!" --- Eduardo Arreguin, a kindly neighbor of mine at my current apartment complex in northwest Austin and a coworker of mine at two respective chain restaurants where each of us were or are employed as a waiter in the early 21st Century.

---"You are as honest as the day is long!" --- Bill Leach, a former high-school schoolmate of mine and former colleague of mine on the Stephen F. Austin High School debate squad of Austin Independent School District in Austin, Texas, in a comment that Bill kindly volunteered to me on the telephone during a local phone call I made to him at his business office at Longhorn Meat Company in east Austin from my apartment unit at Wind River Crossing Apartments in the first decade of the 21st Century. That praise from Bill was especially gratifying parrtly because Bill Leach was also a private attorney member of the State Bar of Texas.

---"You are one of my all-time favorite people!" -- Dr. Douglas Weiner, then a Russian Studies instructor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass., during a one-to-one Holiday Season dinnertime meal I had with Dr. Weiner inside a restaurant in central Boston.

---"Happy New Year to a future Pulitzer!" -- Elspeth Rostow, a professor of public-policy studies and chief administrator at The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs, in a Holiday Season postcard that Professor Rostow wrote and mailed to me in 1983 or 1984 at my rental apartment address near the campus of The University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

---"You remind me of Cary Grant (the Hollywood actor with a British background), except you walk faster!" --- Professor Lewis Gould of The University of Texas at Austin History Department, in a 1978 or 1979 unsolicited observation he made to me on the telephone during my period as a reporter for "The Daily Texan" student newspaper on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

---"Your writing style reminds me of Mark Twain." --- Wade Zwiener, a University of Minnesota undergraduate student and reporter at the "Minnesota Daily" student newspaper, in a kind comment he volunteered to me in 1983 as Wade very generously offered me editing assistance for a humor column of mine I was writing at that time inside my efficiency top-floor rental apartment unit near the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis.

----"Your writing style reminds me of Virginia Woolfe." -- Michael Crothers, a University of Minnesota student and writer, in a 1983 or 1984 comment he volunteered to me in Minneapolis.

----"The moral purity of your lifestyle here in Pampa, Texas, reminds me of a heroic and virtuous chaste fictional character from a Victorian Era novel of 19th Century Great Britain!" ---a female brunette adult resident of the Pampa area of Texas, who herself somehow had heard about me and introduced herself to me that day as I stood outdoors in Pampa, Texas, a city where I was employed full-time as a reporter for "The Pampa Daily News" daily newspaper.

---"You have excellent telephone manners, and you are consistently very polite and friendly when you answer the telephone on behalf of 'The New Ulm Journal' in our newspaper's news and editorial department here in New Ulm, Minnesota (approximate quote)/" --- Steve Fox, my managing editor and head work supervisor at that general-circulation daily newspaper, in a spring of 1980 evaluation of me that Steve Fox volunteered to me one workshift of mine in the newsroom of that regional newspaper.

----"I and members of my family think very highly of you!" --- Ernie Motloch, a very kind and very gentlemanly former work supervisor of mine at Souper Salad Lakeline restaurant near Lakeline Mall in northwest Austin, in an inspirational 2013 oral statement that Ernie, a longtime personal friend of mine, made to me on the telephone from the Temple area of Texas.

---"You have the potential to become a great writer---no shit (sic)!" -- Lynne Layton, a former Comparative Literature instructor of mine at Washington University in St. Louis, in a summer of 1979 signed personal letter that Lynne Layton very kindly wrote and mailed to me at my home mailing address in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during a multi-month period in which I was employed full-time as a suburban-beat news and feature reporter for the "Miami Herald"-owned "Broward Times" general-circulation newspaper based in suburban Tamarac, Florida.

---"You could become the next Art Buchwald (a famous satirical oped columnist for 'The Washington Post')!" --- Sarah Goodfriend, in a late 1970s signed personal letter that former schoolmate of mine at Stephen F. Austin High School wrote and sent to me from another U.S. state.

---"You have a sense of humor a mile wide!" -- Richard Newberger (sp?), a graduating high school senior in Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, in a signed personal reply letter he wrote and mailed to me in 1975 after each of us had been notified by administrators at Washington University in St. Louis that Richard Newberger and I had been pre-assigned by those administrators to room together inside a dormitory at Washington University in the fall semester of 1975.

---"Personally, I think you're a scream!" -- Matt Shands, in a 1982 or 1981 comment he volunteered to me between laughs outside of the apartment complex in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where I was residing in a rental apartment unit at the time.

----"You definitely are smart enough to work and write for 'The New York Times'." -- Charles Hilty, a journalism instructor of mine and then-night-editor for the "St. Louis Post-Dispatch," in a very kind 1975 or 1976 in-person statement to me Mr. Hilty made after class in the college classroom where he taught a journalism course I was enrolled in at the time.

----"You are one of the gentlest people I have ever met!" -- Max Alberts, a self-identified Minneapolis writer and University of Minnesota Math Department staff member, in a 1983 or 1984 observation he volunteered to me on the telephone during a local phone conversation I had with him in the Twin Cities of Minnesota.

----"You were definitely the nicest and friendliest person I ever became acquainted with in the entire Austin area during my multi-year period of living in Austin (approximate quote)." -- Dan Knezek, in a personal E-mail letter that that former tennis partner of mine in Austin, Texas, very kindly wrote and sent to me from the new U.S. state Dan had moved to immediately after moving away from Austin in the first decade of the 21st Century.

----"You are one of the warmest and nicest persons I have ever become acquainted with! (approximate quote)." -- Mark Johnson, a University of Minnesota undergraduate student and "Minnesota Daily" student newspaper reporter from Duluth, in a Holiday Season 1983 or 1984 greeting card that Mark Johnson wrote and mailed to me in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

---"You have an other-worldly intensity to you that suggests you are a visitor on Earth, and you came here from another planet in outer space!" --- Christen Pistulka, a University of Minnesota college student and coworker of mine at the "Minnesota Daily" student newspaper in Minneapolis, in a 1983 or 1982 comment Ms. Pistulka volunteered to me on the telephone during a local phone call I had made to her private residence from the fraternity house near the University of Minnesota campus where I was residing at that time.

----"You are very rare, and you should be very proud of that!" --- Aurelio Contreras, a former coworker of mine at a 24-hour-a-day franchise chain restaurant in Williamson County, Texas, in a January of 2014 comment that Aurelio very kindly volunteered to me in person during a brief conversation I had with Aurelio in Williamson County, Texas.

---"I would like to work for you someday, since I believe you would make a very honorable and kind and generous employer for me (approximate quote)" --- Aurelio Contreras, then a coworker of mine at a 24-hour-a-day franchise chain restaurant in Williamson County, Texas, in a thoughtful unsolicited comment that Aurelio, a self-identified immigrant from Mexico, very kindly veralized to me inside our restaurant chain workplace.

----"You are the very finest person of this entire group of 'Daily Texan' staff members attending this graduation party tonight!" -- Michael Stephens, a former news editor at "The Daily Texan" student newspaper affiliated with Texas Student Publications on the campus of The University of Texas at Austin, in a kind comment that "Daily Texan" news and editorial department staff member Michael Stephens volunteered to me in the late spring of 1979 on the property of a private rental home in Austin where one of the "Daily Texan" staff members resided at that time.

----"You are better than everybody else!" --- John Schlueter, in an unsolicited word of praise for me that that personal friend of mine, neighbor of mine, local business owner, married gentleman and father, and KVUE Television Station production department manager in northwest Austin very generously offered me in person from inside his motor vehicle during a brief visit John Schlueter made in about 2010 to the parking lot of Wind River Crossing Apartment complex near Building 3 (the multi-unit building where I myself have resided in a top-floor vaulted-ceiling one-bedroom apartment unit ever since January 2002).

----"I greatly admire your investigative reporting for 'The Daily Texan' that is exposing major scandals implicating several administrators at The University of Texas at Austin! Keep up the good work!" (approximate quote)--- Mike Laur, a very talented photographer for "The Daily Texan", in an unsolicited word of praise for me that he very generously offered me in 1978 after Mike Laur approached me one day in 1978 on his own initiative as I dined alone, or possibly with coworker Margaret Watson of "The Daily Texan" news and editorial department staff, in the outdoor patio section of the "Les Amis" cafe (a restaurant operating at that time that was situated about one block from the main campus of The University of Texas at Austin).

---"The investigative series of articles you wrote for 'The Daily Texan' student newspaper that exposed major administrative corruption by Oswald Roels, the Belgian-born director of the University of Texas-owned Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas, has triggered lots of ecstatic celebration here at Port Aransas after his resignation as director! We support-staff employees of the institute here in Port Aransas are very grateful to you and your father, Dr. Calvin McMillan, for the kind interest in our institute and support for the 'little people' here in Port Aransas that you have both expressed through that investigative series that had major impact here!" (approximate quote) --- a signed letter to me in 1978 from a female secretary employed at that University of Texas System Administration-affiliated research institute in Port Aransas.

---"That oped column of yours that was recently published in 'The Daily Texan' campus newspaper at UT-Austin did a fine job of cleverly ridiculing a male teaching assistant (TA) in the Government Department at UT-Austin! That oped column was very funny, and prompted me to laugh quite a bit at the ridiculous absurdity of that TA's teaching style!" ---- my oldest brother, Kent Neal McMillan, in verbal praise he kindly volunteered to me in 1977 inside the dining room of our parents' home in Westlake Hills, Texas.

----"The news articles you wrote for 'The Daily Texan' that presented a critical vantage point toward the UT-Austin Administration were very well done! Your writing for 'The Texan' was cutting but not crushing, and I just wanted to give you a phone call today to express my appreciation for your fine work!" --- Mrs. Mike Pankewicz, a former New Yorker and personal friend of my mother, Mrs. Phyllis McMillan, both of whom were longtime members of the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, in a very unexpected local phone call to me from Mrs. Pankiewicz that I received in 1978 or 1979 inside my rental apartment unit along Rio Grande Street near the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

---"You have the perfect temperament for a newspaper journalist: You are skeptical without being cynical." --- Celia Dugger, a former schoolmate of mine at Stephen F. Austin High School of Austin (TX) Independent School District, in a December of 1978 or December of 1979 comment that Celia very kindly volunteered to me during a one-to-one meeting I had with Cel;ia in which I showed her newspaper articles I had written as we sat across from each other at a dining table inside the "Les Amis" cafe near the campus of The University of Texas at Austin.

---"You were never ugly to me, which makes it easy for me to continue providing you with favorable professional references on your behalf" (approximate quote)." ----Mr. Chris Barbee, then managing editor and an owner of "The El Campo (TX) Leader-News" general-circulation newspaper in El Campo, Texas, that primarily serves residents of the western section of Wharton County, Texas, in a telephone call I made to Chris Barbee in the first decade of the 21st Century from my rental apartment unit at Wind River Crossing Apartments in northwest Austin.

----"It's hard to dislike you, since you are so friendly to everyone (approximate quote)!" -- Mr. Chris Barbee, during a summer of 1997 phone call I made during my leisuretime to my former newspaper-industry employer from an apartment complex where I resided at that time near The University of Texas at Austin.

---"It's good that you yourself have chosen to lead a completely celibate lifestyle throughout this period and under these circumstances (approximate quote)." --- Mr. Chris Barbee, a kindly personal friend of mine, former employer of mine in El Campo, Texas, and a married gentleman and father residing in El Campo, Texas, during a long-distance early 21st Century phone call I made to Chris and his wife's (Carol Barbee's) home in El Campo, Texas, from my one-bedroom, top-floor, vaulted-ceiling apartment unit in Austin, Texas, at the Westdale-managed Wind River Crossing Apartments complex in northwest Austin. I have resided in that very same bolt-locked apartment unit in a completely celibate manner throughout all of my conscious or waking hours ever since January 2002, with myself ALWAYS sleeping ALONE on my own bed, and I made it very emphatically clear from the very start to each of the two total respective male adult roommates I have ever roomed with in my apartment unit--- this from mid-April 2011 through May 31, 2011, in the case of a self-identified "citizen of Indonesia" who stated his employer at the time as the British-owned "Pearson Educational Testing Services" in north Austin, and, more recently, from April 27, 2013, to the present (February 13, 2014, currently being the present) in regard to an older self-identified Anglo man and self-identified American citizen. who roomed with me during that period----that I myself (John Kevin McMillan of Austin, Texas) DO NOT agree to have any physical contact of any type or ANY sexual contact of any type with EITHER of those two respective roommates. Each of those two respective adult male roommates stated to me from the very start and at all times while rooming with me that he would fully honor that very clear and unambiguous "no contact" policy of mine at all times.

---"I will feel a lot better about Florida from knowing that you are there." --- Professor David Perry of The University of Texas at Austin Department of Government, in a 1979 telephone call I made to his UT-Austin campus office from my "Daily Texan" student newspaper workplace, with myself informing Professor Perry in that phone call that I had accepted a reporting-job offer in 1979 over the telephone from the "Miami Herald"-owned "Broward Times" of Tamarac, Florida.

----"The 'Miami Herald' editors were very impressed by your writing for 'The Daily Texan', and I have heard that they plan to promote you to a reporting job at the Neighbors section of 'the Herald' by December of this year (1979), if you do well here as a reporter for 'The Broward Times'."--- Clint Williams, a departing reporter for the "Miami Herald"-owned "Broward Times" newspaper in Tamarac, Florida, during an in-person conversation that Clint Williams had with me in or near Fort Lauderdale, Florida, within a few days after I arrived by airplane in mid-1979 at Fort Lauderdale's international airport in order to myself relocate to Florida from Austin, Texas. Clint Williams had been assigned by editor in chief Donald Crull of "The Broward Times" to help train me into the Coral Springs (FL.) beat and Lauderdale (FL) beat that he himself had held as a full-time reporter for that suburban newspaper in western Broward County, Florida.

---"My teenage son Brandon has told me that you were a big inspiration to him when you got together with him several times in 1996 as his unofficial Big Brother here in Denver City (Texas). Brandon has done very well in his academic pursuits at Denver City High School in West Texas, and I partly give you credit for Brandon's great success here as a student." --- Nancy Campbell, the single-parent mother of Brandon Campbell, in an early 21st Century long-distance phone call I made to Mrs. Campbell's home in Denver City, Texas, from my rental apartment unit at Wind River Crossing Apartments in northwest Austin.

----"I would trust you with my own children." --- Cheryl McVey (sp?), an immediate supervisor of mine in my full-time clerical support-staff job at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, during a meeting with me in 1995 inside Ms. McVey's office on the eastern campus of The University of Texas at Austin. Ms. McVey made the reference to her children on her own intiative during that brief one-to-one meeting I had with her inside her office; and in fact, I myself had not made any comment about children in any of my own comments to her.