ibis

I've never met my father, unless you count when I was an infant. Untill recently I've never really had the urge to either. But in the last few months I've been thinking about him alot and have decided to go for it.

My mother met him when they were both in high school. My mother has always said she left him because he abused her... but everyone in my family who met him always have said he was the nicest guy they've ever met. I wouldn't put it past my mom to make something like this up. She has lied to me on several occasions about very trivial things, so I wouldn't put making this story up past her.

That being said, all I really know about him is:
First name: Bart (this could be short for something)
Last name: Rawls (this might not be the correct spelling)
Possibly graduated from Sunnyslope High School in Phoenix, AZ around '80-'82
Had family from Oklahoma (who possible owned land there also).

QUESTION:
1. How should I go about finding him? I'd rather not simply ask my mother for the info. I'd like this do be something I do without her (not that she'd tell me anyways). I've tried googling and even searching for him on classmates.com (there is an entrie for him on classmates.com, but I put it there trying to get access to their records). Other than the paid professional searches (I'm in school and every penny counts, but if it comes down to it I will pay for a service) where should I be looking?

2. Once I find him, how should I approach my mother about it?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.