Golly! How Did I Become an English Prof?

One Sailor’s Testimony of Passing Through the White Water of Academia

I loved science, especially astronomy—achieved the highest grades in science in my elementary and junior high schools.

Loved the drama of science: ◦ Terrifying black holes, ◦ Eternal cosmology ◦ The mind boggling immensity of space.

All exists in science as does ◦ Precise grinding observation, ◦Minute evaluation, ◦ Strict calculation, ◦Math!

Not Apparent at First

Not very gifted in math—in spite of the fact my mother is a math teacher “It’s all just a big puzzle!”

More of a creative thinker. Weak eyesight—I see the big dipper in every part of

the sky. (I guess that’s the creative in me too.) No star-gazing.

Took an excellent science class which exposed me to the need for minute calculations and repeated observations.

Realized that the human drama within the findings of science was what moved me.

The Dawning of How God Had Made Me

Became a voracious reader of the subgenre of Science Fiction

Also discovered mythology Developed into just a voracious reader

(actually took my literature textbook with me to lunch and read it for fun!)

Pleasure is the cornerstone of literature

Science Fiction:

Taught me that as a “Christian” scholar I had nothing to cringe about when with other scholars.

The line between History and Literature◦ Prof. Faulkner’s class on Russian History:◦ The drama of a mad Tsar.

Eastern Nazarene College