[diploma]
Stories
Bill Waggoner for San Mateo City Council youth coordinator.
It was through this work that I learned about the San Mateo City Council. Basically it was common knowledge that the cost of a seat was about $6000 paid to consultants and publicists. Thus, a dozen contractors each putting up $500 sealed the deal for years of revolving-door incumbents.
All experience helps Such that in 1972 after my SUgarloaf speech, when Burkdahl said $500 wasn’t enough to buy my vote, he simply and stupidly took the bait—inviting the public to do for themselves the math which was the actual point of my expose’; and accordingly got trounced along with his comrades.
Though officially disqualified because of my poor GPA, Hugh Silverman graciously allowed me to audit his Summer Political Philosophy course at CSM. Besides Cornford’s Republic, I started Russell’s History at this time as well. After all, when preparing as a CO, who better to study than Bertrand Russell?
Amazingly, Professor Silverman got his teacher’s payback when he interviewed at University of Rochester eight or so years later, and I was in the audience as a Graduate student. Yep, he remembered me, and yep he was quite surprised and seemingly proud.
VietNam war Protests. McCarthy volunteer
Student Government: Robert’s rules of Order became my favorite book; became Parliamentarian and politician, culminating in winning Student Body Vide President at year end.
Quit band (with Duke’s return).
With no use for piano around the department, I tried to find a quiet piano repertoire which didn’t really exist. You had Satie and Gershwin’s second Prelude. Though happy to improvise privately, there was nothing to do publicly.
Ironically, my pacifist studies reminded me or Dr. Albert Schweitzer. I recalled a textbook story of how he maintained his organ practice in Africa using but a graphical slab of wood. The local library had his collection of Bach. THey may well have been 78s because there were a lot and one piece per side. Between the colorless English organ, primitive recording and reproduction there is still a lesson for those that think fidelity is foremost; through the dark murky caricature of sound nevertheless musical though and logic was communicated; with the poor fidelity but motivating me to find the real source.
Not content to merely play organ—and suspecting I might not be turn out great—I ended up studying their design to the point of later becoming an apprentice organ builder. And having to choose between staying with that or going to U.C. Santa Cruz in Philosophy.
And of course there is more than casual connection between the organ-building informing my later synthesis career.
All because of a schoolbook story and that someone had not yet thrown out the old Schweitzer Bach albums for the Library Sale.
War protests; McCarthy volunteer. [add story about Ted Kennedy]
Marching Band: Lead Bass Drum
And here I was, leading the band on those Fall mornings, just as I heard it, downwind from a mile away every season as I was born into and raised in the same house.
Orchestral Percussion—Thank you director Duane Carroll, who loved tympani and turned them over to me. As a recent graduate of SF State, he gently challenged us with a broad new repertoire.
I may actually post some of our concert which spanned four sides of 33 vinyl.
Qualified by my ham work, reminded recently by a friend that I got the teletype working when on one else could, I was an Electronics TA-one of the whiz kids. Mid year my counselor called me in and told me that Mr. Newell had now decided I was “unteachable,” and needed to find a replacement class. The truth was, Air Force retired Newell didn’t want an agitating anti-war hippie in his classroom. My ceremoniously and mockingly interrupting class to get his prized signature, and subsequent celebratory remarks earned me another in a series of prized threatened suspensions for subversive activity.