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Biography I was born on May
29, 1939, in Shreveport, Louisiana. I grew up in Shreveport and graduated
from Fair Park High School in 1957. After six-months active duty in the
United States Marine Corps in California, I returned to Shreveport to
serve out the remainder of my Marine Reserve term in the active reserve until
1962 and in the inactive reserve until 1964, when I received an honorable
discharge with the rank of corporal. I attended Centenary College in
Shreveport and finished my BA in English in the fall semester of 1963 and
stepped immediately into an English teaching position at C. E. Byrd High School
and taught grades 11 and 12. I married Jane Worley in 1964, also an
English teacher, who taught at St. Vincent's Academy and Byrd.
In 1966, we moved from Shreveport to Freeport, Texas, 60 miles south of Houston,
where Jane and I were hired to teach English at Brazosport High School. I
taught grades 11 and 12 and worked on my master's degree at Texas A & M
University in the summer from 1968 through 1972 and received my MA in English in
the summer of 1972. I taught at the local community college, Brazosport
College, in its initial year of operation in 1968 and was hired by
Brazosport College full-time the summer I finished my master's degree. I continued
post-graduate work at the University of Houston, Central Campus, and completed
42 graduate hours of English above my master's degree.
I taught full-time at Brazosport College from the summer of 1972 through the
spring of 2003 and advanced to the rank of professor. During my tenure at
Brazosport College, I taught courses in fundamental English, freshman
composition, British literature, American literature, world literature, creative
writing, and news reporting and news writing (a basic journalism course).
I served as faculty advisor to the college newspaper The Navigator, from
1997 to 2003 and stayed on part-time during the 2003-2004 academic year to teach
journalism and to continue as newspaper advisor.
Jane taught at Brazosport High School with a short interim of serving as public
information officer at the Texas Gulf Bank in Freeport. She retired from
teaching in 1995. I have worked as a freelance journalist and writer for a number of years. I am a regular correspondent and columnist for the local newspaper, The Facts, and I have written over 500 consecutive columns on running and physical fitness. I also write about local running events and features on people and activities. I am a regular contributor to Runner Triathlete News, a regional magazine covering running, cycling and swimming in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, and Inside Texas Running, a running magazine covering Texas. I am a staff writer for Image, a quarterly feature magazine covering southern Brazoria County.
As a creative writer, I have published a number of
poems and one short story;
I have several "works in progress." As an English professor, I
published several articles, led local, state and regional workshops, and made
several presentations at the college and at state and regional English
conferences.
I retired from teaching in May 2004 to devote myself more to writing. I am
also polishing my skills with PageMaker, FrontPage and other programs and
producing newsletters for the
Brazosport Area Road Runners Association and
St. Paul's Episcopal Church. I am working on a rhetoric textbook, a
collection of poetry and some fiction.
In my early forties in 1982, I became a "born-again" runner. I have
finished over 275 races, including 10 marathons and 26 triathlons (swim,
bike, run). Since 2001, I have been a regionally and nationally ranked
triathlete in my age group. I am an average to mediocre runner, but I am a
persistent "old guy" at 68.
My wife Jane and I still live in Freeport in the house we bought in 1966, paid
for and expanded. We both love the beach. We are only about four
miles from the Gulf of Mexico. We have two children, Kathleen David, who
lives behind us with her family and our granddaughter Sarah, and Lisa Shaw, who
lives in Houston with her partner Nancy Michon.
My interests and hobbies are reading, writing, running, cycling, swimming, serving as a lay
minister at St. Paul's Episcopal Church
in Freeport, community service and
volunteer work. I advise or coordinate seven area races. I am a member of AARP, the Academy of American Poets, the Brazosport Area Road Runners
Association (BARRA, Houston Triathlon Racing Club, the American Running
Association, and USA Triathlon. I served as
secretary for BARRA from 1994 to 2004 and continue to serve as newsletter editor
and Webmaster,
committee director for the BARRA Firecracker 4 (a four-mile race) on
Independence Day and registration coordinator for the Surfside
Beach Marathon and Half Marathon. I have served as
secretary and publicity chair for the Brazosport
Relay Triathlon since 1999. |