Pryso, I'm not just from Miles hometown, I'm from Miles neighborhood. The reason I didn't know Miles is because I was only 3 years old when he left town.
I never knew how much me and Miles had in common until after he was dead and I read his autobiography. I knew many of the people he mentioned in his book. I used to buy kites, toys and candy at the drugstore below his fathers dental office. I can still remember the Bar B Q, and those fish sandwiches he spoke of; never had anything better before or since, those sandwiches are legendary.
In regard to his music, I liked Clifford Brown and Dizzy better in the 50's when I started listening to jazz. The strangest detail I noted about Miles music at that time was that all of the Miles fans I knew smoked pot, but that was cool at the time.
Now that I've listened to all his music through it's many incarnations, I realize what a genus he was; any music I didn't like was because it needed a second listen in a different light.