People

On these pages I hope to share special people, people who fit into three personal interests or goals.

My first people-related goal was to know more words, and how well-spoken people used them. As a college freshman, I had a list that grew too long pasted above my desk. One early hero was Jeanne Kilpatrick, for her keen sense of words. 

A second goal was inadvertent. Life among my Bolivian family immersed me in family and community history. At first it was was not clear who was living and who was not. Stories kept everyone alive, and the stories of 100 Anos de Solidad are a commercial example. I aspire to tell good stories, and seek out others who had better stories.

A third goal is much more academic, inspired by books and others who have apparently been to more libraries, read more books, and listened to others better than I have (so far).  It is stoked by the response of students, and with every image of lovely books and libraries.  I hope to acquire at least one signature, historical speciality.  A recent visitor to Laramie exemplifies such a speciality:  Professor Paulus Gerdes can speak with unique authority about the Maghreb and its place in mathematical growth of knowledge.