School Story
Ever, ever grateful to Southwest for saving me from Breck and Blake, different but rather equally loathsome experiences.
Still felt like I couldn't keep up - Jim Berger made my math pretensions a mockery, and Erik Saulitis thoroughly dusted me on skis. Still, God bless Edwin Anderson for letting me loose on the Wang calculator, and Michael Hanson as a history teacher. Won't ever forget Ms. Williams, whom I errantly called "Mrs." one day...snaps to her feet, blasts: "MISS, and proud OF it!" Far superior Latin teacher to the nuggie specialist C. Douglas Holcombe, total A-H, at Blake. Sanford Strand, a bit vacant, but wise Physics teacher, calligraphy on the board, and Carl S-something, for Chemistry..don't sit too close..breath of the dragon..
Went drinking once with Jeff Rotsch..to this day can't look brown-colored liquor square in the eye..he was fine, it was just me. Phil Ford, the PE teacher, no foolin' around there..memories, Gordy Wise, a year older, cool guy in his class, funny, clever, broke my heart when he came home from 'Nam RIP.
Almost too easy at 54 years' remove to land back there headwise. I guess the good and bad news is that wherever, and maybe WHENever we go, there we are, until we can't remember. Not there yet.
Wrote a mini-bio for Carleton class of '72, from which I dropped out. Pasted below, for anyone with a slow day going on. Best, best, best to all.
Scott
CARLETON '72 MINI-BIO
God, humbling, these Bios. Feels like I’ve been ‘go-for-the-Bronze’ all these years. An honor even to name-drop Carleton. And what a ride, don’t you think, to be vintage 1950…
After typing hard onto mimeo masters to produce the Noon News Bulletin with Mike Krueger (more on him later), after playing soccer for warmest Brit John Dyer-Bennett, with fine person blazing fast Jon Wilbur, R.I.P., after teaching skiing and tennis for beloved Pat Lamb, after arguing politics with kind and brilliant Sy Schuster, and yes, after Kierkegaard over tea at Elveton’s, it was time to admit that I wasn’t ready for college. Two years, and away. But not far. I lived at Schusters’ for awhile, scrubbing Marilyn’s pans, and – ironing her drapes. True. Following some aimless travel, I wound up on Dirk and Nancy Hartog’s floor in the East Village, and wandered into an Ashram. Yogi Rudi hired me on the spot. Said he liked my stubbornness. Carpenter’s helper, and deliveries, once carrying a stone Buddha up 6 flights to an apartment for a Mr. Hoffman. Door answered by the VERY unimpressed Anita, who said, dripping New York, “Abby, there’s some kid here with a Buddha. I think he wants to discuss your views.”
Health food restaurant in Chicago for some months, and a bakery in Washington D.C. Those with Mike. Then - 1973- to Colorado: was I good enough on skis? Sub-bronze, not even close. More carpentry, then one summer day, Wagner Park in Aspen, two large, odd things high in the air landed in the park. Math: 2 for 2. Steerable. QED. So of course, Golden Sky School next day. Foot-launched flight has since been central to my life. Still soaring, now on wheels though, on a Swift Lite E. Elegant, beautiful micro sailplane with an electric motor.
So, late 1973, back to the University of Minnesota, local flying, became proficient enough to teach others, kept learning, began competing, and in 1977 came west to run a company building gliders in Temecula, California. Late 1978, glimmers of adulthood, wrote papers to finish off old incompletes, B.A., and on to grad school. Come 1984, Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. (Krueger came to California so I could dictate my dissertation to a 130 WPM typist. His price: insert one wicked commentary into my lit review: "This unhelpful contribution.." Utterly hilarious. Still brings tears.)
Now still in Psychology practice in California. 1989, married Lorraine who still tolerates me, why, why. (BTW, she's editing out 'fatuous blather' (recall CARL Al Franken?) as we speak... ) Bought myself a ‘sabbatical’ to go to law school at USC in 1999. Older than all my professors first semester. Passed the bar, immediately returned to psychology. Adopted Jessa as a newborn in 1998, deepest adventure, young at 23, like her dad maybe..
Real time now, lawyering in earnest, new job, doing California Lemon Law. Also moved from Del Mar to Carlsbad, California, into a one-story house after 2 back surgeries (flying-optional; landing-mandatory). So work, flying, photography, golf from the gold tees.
Italy, Fiji, travels. Also twice, Greece and France, with Carleton Alumni Adventures. Caesar, Peggy, John, Patty, Alan (’71), Jean, Greta, Randy (Wilkening), Michael Coomes, I simply love you. And Chico and Rebecca Zimmerman and Scott Carpenter. Depth, wit, Carleton TEACHING. In awe of some older alums on the trips. Fine, wise people.
70 degrees outside, SoCal, January 24, last minute. Koerner and Murphy playing in the car. As in the day.
