Connected yellow wire (on brake light switch) to taillight fuse; side of fuse closest to dash, brake lights came on; connected to side of fuse closest to engine, no lights. Is it possible that the brake light switch is bad? When the problem first occurred I removed it from the bracket and sanded and cleaned it well to make sure I had a good ground there. Did I screw up the brake light switch pressing it back into the bracket?
I feel there is a pattern here, but it eludes me. While I've some got mechanical skill(enough to screw things up, as the saying goes), I recognize that my skills are "home schooled" through the trial and error process.
Your suggestions are giving me directions to go in, and I feel I'm getting closer to a solution.
Thanks again to all the replies!