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What are you
doing these days?
Retired from nearly
30 years of college teaching in Ellensburg, Washington two years ago
(yea!). Now living in Bisbee, AZ (a small community of artisans and old
hippies in the SE part of the state) with my soul mate of 44 years, Sara
(Stocker - PSHS Class of 1967). Doing lots of hiking, bicycling,
motorcycling, travel (France a couple of months ago), reading, a little bit
of writing, and some volunteering with the local homeless shelter and border
animal rescue. Trying to overlook the fact that our retirement decision,
from benefit of hindsight, was probably not the best possible timing with
the horrendous economic situation that has ensued.
Tell us about your children.
One daughter (Penny) and one son (Jim Jr.), along with two granddaughters
(Julia and Esme') and one grandson (Zack). Penny, who was born in Palm
Springs, is a public health nurse living in Ellensburg, WA with her husband
Peter, a nurse anesthetist, and Zack (a sophomore at Ellensburg High). Both
Penny and Peter received their nursing degrees from Washington State
University and Gonzaga. Jim Jr. is a neuroscientist with Teva,
International, and received his B.A. in Biology from Colorado College and
his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Washington. Jim now lives
in Minneapolis with his wife and two daughters.
Highlights of the past 40
years.
Married Sara after one year at College of the Desert.
Marriage (44 years now!) and the ever-looming Vietnam War motivated me to
focus to my academics much more than at PSHS. After two years at COD,
transferred to Humboldt State and finished with a B.A. in Psychology in
1969, and followed-up with a Ph.D. in experimental psychology at Arizona
State. Bumped around a few years with a research job in CA, followed by
teaching at ASU, before we moved to Ellensburg and settled in. Sara retired
from her middle school teaching job at the same time as me. Both Sara and I
both look back at our time at PSHS with fondness and marvel at how simple
the world seemed then. Many people now talk about 9/11 as a watershed
event, and it was, but, for me, the assignation of JFK in the fall of my
senior year seemed to be the tipping point for a lot of the weirdness that
has happened since.
Words of Wisdom to Impart?
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn professional"
(Hunter S. Thompson)
Your funniest memory(s) while
at PSHS.
My mom driving me from Rancho Mirage to school each morning
in my Corvette after having my license suspended for drag racing on Indian
Ave. during Easter Week, 1964.
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