2008 Writing D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
September
2008
Where There's a WILL. . .
. . . there's a way to take courses from faculty whose lives are as fascinating as their curriculum. Meet some of the faces of the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning.
By Jim Kelly
The line at the grocery-store check stand was just long enough to give the waiting shoppers a little time to visit among themselves before exchanging their cash for a few staples. The man in the English driving cap said he had moved here from the South of France.
"The South of France?" I asked. "What on earth inspired that move?"
He smiled, forgiving my incredulity, and explained that he and his wife had retired. After some extensive research, they decided on Silver City as their new home town.
Shortly after that encounter I met his wife in an Indian rock-painting course offered by the Western Institute for Lifelong Learning (WILL) in Silver City. Founded in early 2006, WILL "approaches learning as a lifetime adventure for continued intellectual discovery in a supportive, expansive and informal learning environment," according to its mission statement. "WILL is for those 50 years and older, although we encourage eager learners of any age to join. Members bring talents and extensive life experience to WILL, making our courses and social experiences enlivened places to learn."
My wife and I had enrolled in a number of WILL courses, and the "talents and extensive life experiences" we'd encountered made me curious about others who've relocated to Grant County and begun sharing their expertise through WILL. The roster of WILL's volunteer instructors — who will be offering more than 50 classes this fall — ranges from a former foreign-service officer to a Celtic musician. Many, I've learned, are transplants like us.
Silver City is rapidly gaining a reputation as prime retirement territory, and many of the new faces in town have led interesting lives, to say the least. Not that they have actually "settled down" in retirement, though. Often these newcomers are still working — whether in jobs or as instructors for WILL, or both — bringing their lifetimes of experience to their new community.
From the Heart of France
The couple who had decided to retire from the South of France to Silver City turned out to be John and Judy Lawson, and their stories were even more surprising than just the "French connection."
"I first went to France for my student year abroad, and stayed for 42 years," Judy said with a laugh. "I taught English to French businessmen."
John found his way to Europe by a more roundabout path. "While finishing my PhD in Middle Eastern history, I was offered a job at the University of Utah. I was in charge of all the animals involved in the artificial-heart research program
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John and Judy Lawson |
there."
Artificial-heart research became a career path for John, and he was ultimately offered a faculty position in the department of surgery. His planned career teaching Middle Eastern history moved to the back burner. Among the many research students working under John's supervision was a young man named Robert Jarvik, who went on to revolutionize artificial-heart research.
John's career took him to Europe, where he became a traveling teacher of sorts. "I traveled all over Europe, training surgeons in the field of artificial-heart implant surgery," he said. It was in the course of these travels that John and Judy met in 1994.
The couple continued to work at their respective jobs. But as retirement time came around, Judy recalled a childhood experience that had planted a dream of New Mexico in her imagination.
"My father was at one time supposed to be assigned a position at the Sandia Labs, but as things turned out we went to Tennessee instead," Judy recalled. "Based on that experience, somehow I had built up an image of living in New Mexico, and I just knew this was where we were supposed to be."
"We did do quite a bit of research," John added. "We looked at several different countries, and then we saw an ad for a house. . . in Silver City, New Mexico."
As their lives turned to retirement in Silver City, the Lawsons found a real home here. "It's just what we wanted: a small town at the end of the road, with a small university and room for us to have two horses," Judy concluded.
And, by the way, John is finally teaching Islamic Studies and Middle Eastern History, and Judy will be teaching French, in the fall term for the WILL continuing education program.