I was born and grew up on the east coast, going to schools in New Jersey and New Hampshire. I graduated from Columbia University where I majored in the Dept. of Religion. Looking back, those four years in New York City seem better than good, they seem almost beyond all. In those days, however, military service was required, so after college I went into the army and just managed to finish my tour of duty before my outfit, the 101st Airborne Division, was sent for 7 years into the horror and insanity of Vietnam. From the Army I went to the University of Washington (Seattle) for an M.A. and Ph.D. in comparative Literature (mostly in Anglo-American literature and in philosophy). The Northwest seemed like a dream. In 1970 I came to Sonoma State College to join Hutchins. Sometimes it too has been beyond all.

So much has happened over these years that it's hard to discuss intelligently in a short space. Not everything has been for the best. In the early years an enormous number of people (much including students) repeatedly expressed their rage at what they saw as a militaristic and consumer society; today we might rage at under stocked malls (if any exist). And it is hard not to be dismayed by our collective and willing progress--just since 1970--toward what I can only see as the ruin of our national body politic and our global environment. All of which makes me feel the need for Hutchins.