D e s e r t E x p o s u r e September 2008

Where There's a WILL. . .

. . . there's a way to take courses from faculty whose lives are as fascinating as their curriculum. Meet some of the faces of the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning.

By Jim Kelly

The line at the grocery-store check stand was just long enough to give the waiting shoppers a little time to visit among themselves before exchanging their cash for a few staples. The man in the English driving cap said he had moved here from the South of France.

"The South of France?" I asked. "What on earth inspired that move?"

He smiled, forgiving my incredulity, and explained that he and his wife had retired. After some extensive research, they decided on Silver City as their new home town.

Shortly after that encounter I met his wife in an Indian rock-painting course offered by the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) in Silver City. Founded in early 2006, WILL "approaches learning as a lifetime adventure for continued intellectual discovery in a supportive, expansive and informal learning environment," according to its mission statement. "WILL is for those 50 years and older, although we encourage eager learners of any age to join. Members bring talents and extensive life experience to WILL, making our courses and social experiences enlivened places to learn."

My wife and I had enrolled in a number of WILL courses, and the "talents and extensive life experiences" we'd encountered made me curious about others who've relocated to Grant County and begun sharing their expertise through WILL. The roster of WILL's volunteer instructors — who will be offering more than 50 classes this fall — ranges from a former foreign-service officer to a Celtic musician. Many, I've learned, are transplants like us.

Silver City is rapidly gaining a reputation as prime retirement territory, and many of the new faces in town have led interesting lives, to say the least. Not that they have actually "settled down" in retirement, though. Often these newcomers are still working — whether in jobs or as instructors for WILL, or both — bringing their lifetimes of experience to their new community.

From the Heart of France

The couple who had decided to retire from the South of France to Silver City turned out to be John and Judy Lawson, and their stories were even more surprising than just the "French connection."

"I first went to France for my student year abroad, and stayed for 42 years," Judy said with a laugh. "I taught English to French businessmen."

John found his way to Europe by a more roundabout path. "While finishing my PhD in Middle Eastern history, I was offered a job at the University of Utah. I was in charge of all the animals involved in the artificial-heart research program

John and Judy Lawson

there."

Artificial-heart research became a career path for John, and he was ultimately offered a faculty position in the department of surgery. His planned career teaching Middle Eastern history moved to the back burner. Among the many research students working under John's supervision was a young man named Robert Jarvik, who went on to revolutionize artificial-heart research.

John's career took him to Europe, where he became a traveling teacher of sorts. "I traveled all over Europe, training surgeons in the field of artificial-heart implant surgery," he said. It was in the course of these travels that John and Judy met in 1994.

The couple continued to work at their respective jobs. But as retirement time came around, Judy recalled a childhood experience that had planted a dream of New Mexico in her imagination.

"My father was at one time supposed to be assigned a position at the Sandia Labs, but as things turned out we went to Tennessee instead," Judy recalled. "Based on that experience, somehow I had built up an image of living in New Mexico, and I just knew this was where we were supposed to be."

"We did do quite a bit of research," John added. "We looked at several different countries, and then we saw an ad for a house. . . in Silver City, New Mexico."

As their lives turned to retirement in Silver City, the Lawsons found a real home here. "It's just what we wanted: a small town at the end of the road, with a small university and room for us to have two horses," Judy concluded.

And, by the way, John is finally teaching Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern History, and Judy will be teaching French, in the fall term for the WILL continuing education program. Just Fiddling Around

Not all of WILL's teachers are retired, however, and some of this "not retired" group are equally unusual in their life experiences.

Eileen Sullivan

Take Eileen Sullivan, for example. By day, she's best known as the Silver City Public Library's reference librarian. But when the books are all put away, out comes the violin, and a very different Eileen emerges.

A graduate of the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music, with a major in violin performance, Eileen knows her way around classical music, as well as jazz, and is also experienced in quartet literature. "The Wisconsin Conservatory is well known for its jazz program, and most people don't think of the violin as a jazz instrument," she said.

But none of those esoteric disciplines relate to Eileen's new WILL course in Irish Music.

"It started out as a class in Irish fiddle music," she explained, "and now has expanded to include a more general introduction to Irish music."

Eileen taught at Lawrence University in Wisconsin, played in the Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra, and did PhD work in Ethno-Musicology. But she found herself needing to make a more secure living while she finished her doctoral work.

"It all led me to the University of New Mexico to finish my master's in library science, so I could have some earning stability. Music can be an uncertain living," she explained.

"I can't tell you how many parties I've played for," she added with a laugh, "how many wedding nightmares I've survived as a musician!"

While at the university in Albuquerque, Eileen discovered the world of Celtic music. She took a "gig" playing for an English dance group, and worked into playing contra-dance music.

"It's fast, rhythmic music, and it just really caught my spirit," she said. "The energy in a room full of 80 dancers is amazing."

And now Eileen is bringing her unique music to her WILL students. Many of them will be bringing their own musical backgrounds to the class, as well as their instruments.

"The class will be an introductory course in Irish music, so some students will have had a limited exposure to the tunes," Eileen said. "The main idea is to enjoy the music any and every way we can."

Silver City Globetrotter

Rick Sherman came to Silver City by way of Zimbabwe, by way of the island nations of Polynesia, by way of Pakistan, by way of New Zealand. He's been around.

"Since joining the foreign service out of college, I've almost never lived in the United States," he said matter-of-factly. "Of course, that's the nature of the work."

Rick and Sue Sherman

Many of Rick's experiences overseas as a representative of the US State Department were unique and somewhat adventurous. But none can quite compare with the 1979 Iranian turmoil, which culminated in the Nov. 4 seizing of the US embassy in Tehran, which led to 66 Americans being held hostage.

He recalled, "Our ambassador in Kabul had been murdered, our Iranian embassy had been overrun and hostages taken, and the embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, where I was stationed was also taken over. I was one of the over 100 embassy personnel who took refuge in a vault and survived the attack.

"That was a difficult time. Four Americans were shot and killed."

But how did Rick find Silver City, in all his world of travel, and why did he choose Grant County for his retirement?

"A friend I had served with in Zimbabwe had settled here in Silver because it reminded him so much of the climate and countryside he liked so much in Africa," Rick remembered, "and my wife and I came to visit him here over Christmas of 2002."

Even though that first visit didn't convince Rick and his wife this was the place for their retirement, their second visit in 2003 did the trick. "That second visit really opened our eyes. Within 38 hours of arriving in town, we'd bought a lot, hired an architect and hired a builder.

"This place has a lot going for it," he added, "but two things in particular — the climate and the people, and I'm not sure about the order."

Since moving to Silver City, Rick has initiated a popular World Issues Forum through WILL. Community members regularly fill the WNMU Global Resource Center's auditorium to discuss contemporary news events.

"This fall, we'll be doing a special forum on the United States Constitution," Rick said. "A prerequisite for the course will be to have read the entire Constitution. So many people have never actually read the document, and this being an election year, we thought it would be appropriate to gain some understanding of what it actually says. We will even have a constitutional expert in attendance."

Town and Gown Connection

"Something about this town just seems to attract interesting, creative people," remarked Katherine Warren, WILL's treasurer.

Katherine Warren

Because WILL is an active continuing education program, it helps to have education professionals on the board of directors and on organizational committees. It also helps if those people are themselves interesting and creative.

Katherine oversees the distance-learning program at Western New Mexico University. She sees WILL as a vehicle to support the town/university relationship, as well as providing an educational resource for newcomers.

"With so many retired people finding their way to Silver, the university is a very positive force in facilitating the WILL program," she said.

A teacher and librarian throughout her working life, Katherine brings a unique world perspective to both WILL and the university. From teaching in Navajo reservation schools in northern Arizona, to posts in international schools in the highlands of Papua, New Guinea, and the West Indies, Katherine's life experiences seem to have brought her around to Silver City more than once.

"Actually, I lived here in the mid-'80s," she said, "and even then there was something special here. I settled here again in 2004, and just had this overwhelming feeling that this was just where I needed to be."

In 2005, Katherine and a few other professionals got together and established the WILL program, aimed primarily at retired folks with a need and a desire for continuing education. Some wanted to take art courses and some wanted to learn Spanish.

"We focused on just a few short courses, four weeks or less, with a small curriculum that suited the students' needs," she recalled. "Now we're offering more than 50 courses in our fall 2008 term, and have a WILL membership of more than 250."

While WILL was the product of a grassroots effort in the community, the university came on board in the first year.

"The university has been very supportive," Katherine said. "Currently three of WILL's 11 executive board members are WNMU administrative staff, and the university provides office and classroom space, as well as audiovisual equipment. A number of WNMU faculty members have volunteered their time and expertise to facilitate WILL classes."

As for Katherine, she doesn't plan to join those retirees any time soon. "I like working too much," she said, "and the online program is one of the fastest growing segments of the university."

Literary Lion

While many of our new acquaintances at WILL have brought unique life experiences with them to Silver City, we have yet to meet a course facilitator with as substantial a life history as Felipe de Ortego y Gasca.

Felipe de Ortego y Gasca

He is one of the fathers of Hispanic literature studies in America, as well as a Master Gardener. He holds a PhD in British Renaissance studies. And he's a former United States Marine.

Felipe's credentials in education, literature, film and theater, military service and critical writing are beyond amazing. To Google his name is to find reams of credits — even his own Wikipedia entry. Today he serves as Scholar in Residence at WNMU.

"I was born in Illinois. My parents were migrant farm workers picking beets there," Felipe recalled. "My parents came to America as part of the migrant stream of workers in 1921."

After serving as a Marine in World War II, Felipe began his studies in comparative literature at the University of Pittsburgh. "At Pitt they put me on the rewrite desk of the student newspaper. It was the best writing class I ever took," he laughed.

He began his life of exceptional scholarship as a French teacher (one of his several languages), and evolved through careers in journalism, authorship and education. Felipe also served as an advisor in the Reagan White House.

"I officially retired in 1999," he said, "but when my wife took a post here at the WNMU library, I decided to go back into teaching."

Felipe was one of the original Quinto Sol writers, a publishing company aimed at raising the profile of Chicano literature. So what could be more appropriate than for him to take on a forum in Chicano Literature for WILL? He also teaches some regular English and Composition courses at WNMU.

"There's a nice pace here," he said, "and I'm looking forward to pulling together some people for an interesting literary forum for WILL in the fall term."

From Felipe to the Lawsons, from the foreign service to the fiddlin' librarian, not to mention one of the administrators who holds it all together, there are sure some interesting people in the WILL program.

Of course, there's just one more course facilitator who should get a mention in this article. This fall, the editor and publisher of Desert Exposure will offer a WILL course in genealogy. It turns out that before he relocated to Silver City, David Fryxell founded and edited Family Tree Magazine, now the nation's most popular genealogy publication.

If you run into him in the grocery store checkout line, be sure to ask him about it.

The Western Institute for Lifelong Learning will hold a Sign-Up Social on Sept. 4, 5-6:30 p.m. at the WNMU Global Resource Center. A WILL annual membership is $50. For more information, call 538-6835 or see www.will-learning.com

Retired journalist Jim Kelly had a few life experiences himself before moving to Silver City. In his "other life" he appeared in television series including "Little House on the Prairie," "Father Murphy" and "Highway to Heaven."

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