[at-l] who, where, & why

[greyowl at rcn.com (greyowl@xxxxxxx)]

I have though long and hard about how I would reply to this 
challenge.  I could be flippant (I am with the Centre 
Director), I could be cyanical or I would try to give an 
honest answer without bragging. I can think of several 
defining moments in my life and they helped to shape me into 
the person that I am .  The first was when I was a freshman 
in high shool.  My english teacher introduced me to e.e. 
cummings.  To this day I emjoy poetry and among my favorite 
are Robert Frost, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and William Blake.  
While I was in high school I wanted to be a Blake Scholar.  
Not a wise choice as there are problem 15 of them in the 
world and they are also unemployed.  I also wanted to be a 
poet andactually sold a poem back in 1962!!  Fortunately I 
did not become one as I would have straved to death.  Years 
Later Irea Thorigins of Knowledge and Imagination by Jacob 
Bronowski.  This book was based on a series of lectures given 
at Yale University.  He turned out to be a big fan of Blake.  
This has been a true inspiration to me.  

The second defining moment in my life was my marriage, 34 
years ago, to my wife.  I would like to say that it has been 
a wonderful 34 years, but there were plenty of hard times.  
In the end the marriage has survived and we have grown with 
it.  We have two wonderful children , a daugther who is 23 
and a son who is 21.  I really enjoy my children thought they 
too have caused stress in my life.  To quote William 
Wordsworth:

My heart leaps up when I behold
              A rainbow in the sky:
          So was it when my life began;
          So is it now I am a man;
          So be it when I shall grow old,
              Or let me die!
          The Child is father of the Man;
              I could wish my days to be
          Bound each to each by natural piety.


So what else can I tell you about myself.  I am a chemist, I 
have a PhD.  I have lived in two foreign countries (Canada 
and Vietnam),  I spent several months in two others (Cambodia 
and Mexico), I have been to all fifty states (that is 52 
states for those that live in florida).  I hate television, 
don't like movies, like all types of music except new age,   
read just about anything except romance novels.  Used to be a 
whitewater Canoeing instructor, a white water rafting guide 
and of course I spend a lot of time walking and hiking.  I 
also volunteer time for trail care, conservation work with 
the nature conservency, and the wildlands conservency (they 
are trying to protect the Lehigh River Watershed).  I also 
work with a number of youth groups, though recently more and 
more organization are doing police background checks and the 
organizations I work for have suddenly discovered that I have 
an interesting police record from the sixities.  I worked 
voter registration in the south and arrested at many 
different protests in the Washington DC area.

My Mottos are many and varied but the one over my desk is 
more valid today than it was in the sixites.  QUESTION 
AUTHORITY.  Anotherone is NPWA  NO POWER WITHOUT 
ACCOUNTABILITY.  Well enough of this.  My boss wants me to 
complete my power point presentation that I am making this 
saturday.

Bob Dudley
aka Grey Owl