Today's Featured Biography

 
James Gregory

1957 First began meeting some of you in Wildwood school.
Won a prize at playground Halloween contest as a pirate.
Played in The Park. Built forts, destroyed vegetation, climbed trees, threw grass bombs. Flew on skateboards, bikes, cardboard and scooters.
Hated school, was mostly scared.
1962 Won a prize at playground Halloween contest as a pirate, again.
1963 Began meeting a lot more of you in Junior High.
JFK was killed, Mr. Wilcox tearfully sent us home after lunch, Pan Dos Remedios cried; I was alone, confused and angry.
Testosterone entered my blood, I had serious crushes on at least four dozen classmates during the PHS years. (I maintained way to much self control)
Did great in junior football, baseball, track and pool; good for the esteem.
1966 lost interest in competitive sports, never re-found it.
Still hated school, was mostly scared.
Thoroughly enjoyed life, enjoyed my schoolmates after school. Pi Chi, Program of Awareness, “Encounter Groups,” picnics in the redwood hills and on Pacific beaches, Scouting, poetry and music. It was a glorious time.
1969 Graduation, sad to feel the disbandment.
Worked that summer at a camp for “dis-advantaged” boys. On a day trip to the Ocean, surprised to discover that many of them had never seen the Pacific, even though they grew up a short distance away.
1969 Fall, college in the Humboldt Redwoods, Arcata CA. Free from the womb of family and place of origin, I became a one year old child again; testing and tasting everything in front of me.
‘69 to ‘75 I stretched out the college years. Spent the whole time at Humboldt U. I was an undeclared major for 4 years, taking classes that perked my fancy. Finally graduated with a major in Philosophy with minors in Psychology and Material Sciences.
1970 Met my wife, Nancy, though we did not get married until 7 years later.
1976 Since junior high school I had a private agenda that I would not participate in the apparently pointless, busied, work-a-day world. I would join a monastery after college. Which I did; but after a year there I realized my junior high private agenda was not for me. This was probably one of my hardest realizations.
1977 moved to Seattle. Got a job, Got married.
1979 bought a farm house in a rural community, Duvall, WA.
1979 to 1996, did life in Duvall. It was good; our daughter, Leah, had a wonderful childhood. Like myself, she got to experience the richness of going to the same grammar school, junior and senior high schools with the same group of evolving classmates.
1976 to now: My vocation has been art glass. I made most of my money as a glass chemist creating new formulas and colors of glass. We (Spectrum Glass Com)annually produce tens of millions of pounds of colored glass that is distributed around the world for artisans to assemble into churches, lamp shades, home entries and even dinnerware. I also travel nationally teaching glass arts. I do personal glass art commissions and show my work in galleries.
1991 Leah completes HS.
1995 Leah completes college with a degree in Education.
1996 Leah marries her high school sweet heart.
2000, 4th of July fireworks and our grandson Tyler is born.
2002, 14th of February Valentines and our granddaughter Tess is born.
2004, 7th of July, our daughter Leah, mother of two beautiful children, dies of cancer.
2006, divorced.
2007, my mother dies.
2008, financial collapse.

2009, I consider myself one of the most fortunate of the nearly 7 billion alive today. My heart is full of Love and a profound sense of Beauty. This moment is larger than the breath and history of our imagined Universe.

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