Donna Mekis to talk about her book on Croatians in the area Donna Mekis, founding director of both Cabrillo’s Transfer Center and the Honors Transfer Program, will be our luncheon speaker for the April 8 gathering at Michael’s on Main. She’ll talk about her book Blossoms into Gold, written with her sister, that tells the story of how Croatian families brought their close ties and sense of organization to the Pajaro Valley, developing the apple industry in the area and much more. Croatian immigrants came from the Dalmatian Coast, had a background of international trade, were sailors, and political thinkers. They brought with them customs, beliefs and ideas that would change the way their new home would do

business, while establishing a way of life here that was vibrant and rich in traditional folkways. You might be surprised at how many local people you know or know of who are of Croatian descent. A faculty member for 20 years, Donna was the wife of poet and Cabrillo English instructor Mort Marcus, and produces the Annual Morton Marcus Memorial Poetry Reading series, now in its seventh year. Retired Cabrillo poet and instructor Joe Stroud, one of our previous luncheon speakers, will be featured reader for the event this year, in early November. Donna will bring copies of her book for purchase ($30) and hopes to show slides. She will discuss how the book evolved and read a section or two from it. She pointed out that the Santa Cruz County History Gallery at the Museum of Art and History includes an updated and new section on Croatians that she worked on in collaboration with the MAH staff. Donna and her sister, Kathryn Mekis Miller, are granddaughters of Croatian immigrants. Their father, Andrew Mekis, was born in Watsonville’s Croatian colony in 1920. Donna has degrees in both anthropology and education from UC Santa Cruz, where she also worked assisting students from two-year colleges to four-year universities. Retirees are to gather for the luncheon at 11:30, time for chatting and renewing connections with colleagues. Lunch will begin at noon, followed by Donna’s talk. Cost is $24 per person. Reservations are required and must be submitted to Roberta Bristol no later than April 1. The reservations forms are on the back page.

SLOWLY  BREAKING
 NEWS  

Letters from the Field By  André  Neu   Put this column in the “be careful what you wish for” file. A few weeks ago, having little to put into this collection of anecdotes about retirees, I complained in an email to members of our hallowed group that few of them had responded to my request to submit material for use in the upcoming newsletter. Well, open the floodgates! (Such as they are with only a hundred or so retirees to address.) A dozen responses greeted me the next day, each filled with worthwhile news. I had joked that what I sought needn’t be earthshaking, such as climbing Mt. Everest, finding a flightless bird previously thought extinct, or…reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. And, of course, someone had done just that. Fred Squatrito wrote that he had read the entire, 24-volume (1960 edition) Encyclopedia Britannica, not once but twice. “I read it,” he explained, “because I don't sleep. I found it fascinating. Some articles are not digestible because they presume a lot of knowledge on the subject. The article on lattice systems of mathematics was well beyond me.” He said he inherited the books when his mother “relocated to Indiana and didn’t want to take this mass of books with her. And they don’t call it ‘Britannica’ for nothing,” Fred continued. “It has a

decidedly British empiricist slant and historical bias. My minor degree is in German and I have had the opportunity to compare the British version of a particular article to a German equivalent. In many cases the British scholarship is fleeting while the German is comprehensive and thorough.” And in more footloose matters, Fred, who retired in 2014 after 39 years teaching music at Cabrillo, traveled with his family last year to Europe, visiting London, Oxford, Paris, Reims, Plombieres-les-Bains, Aachen, and Brussels. “I learned beaucoup French while there,” he said. If that weren’t sufficiently time-consuming, Fred has a wood milling operation where he either harvests trees or reclaims downed trees and produces lumber. “I then build timber frame structures from the material. I was involved in these things before retirement, but of course they get more of my time now.”

A pergola “teahouse” Fred Squatrito built late last year out of lumber he either harvested from trees or reclaimed downed trees and milled himself.

Here’s what the other retirees have been up to, much of it also about travel:

Mary Ellen Sullivan, former counselor and articulation officer, said she and her husband went to Istanbul, Cappadocia and several of the Greek Islands last May and June. “We were so impressed with Turkey. We had private guides in both places and were able to have some very interesting political discussions. We were there during the election in June and campaigning was in full swing. With no Fox or CNN, it was quite bearable. Istanbul was so gorgeous with its crumbling buildings and hundreds of Mosques. Cappadocia was amazing. We stayed in a remote cave hotel where the only sound in the evenings was the call to prayer.  This May we are doing something we have always wanted to do: staying in an apartment in Paris for two weeks. Planning to see many of the small museums that we have not visited. I'll be brushing up on my high school French for this one.” Former English instructor Kathy Cowan said she had just returned from two weeks in Argentina “where I spent time getting acquainted with Buenos Aires and took a trek to the rain forest and Iguazu Falls, a spectacular sight. I also visited a friend there so I got to see how the Argentinians live and work.”  Sue Broadston had an exciting report: “I’m frolicking all over!” she exclaimed.  “Dropping trees in my own backyard, discovering Mayan ruins, sting rays, and caves in Belize, meeting my new lab students (Physics 10 lab one afternoon a week)! They come from all over, but most from Santa Cruz and Watsonville. You would never believe the diversity I get— from old retired poets to high-schoolers looking for a jump on college physics.

There's definitely no grass growing under my feet, though it is beautifully covering my little Scotts Valley area homestead where I enjoy my son and his family in their own house on my land. And my amazing man friend Jim Ostendorf has wrapped me into his lovely family. I now claim seven grandkids who light up our lives and keep us busy and happy!” In addition, Sue says: “This IS earth shaking!  After nearly two years of anticipation, the Bali to Borneo adventure is here—two weeks of adventure, Feb. 28 to March 14, with a total solar eclipse right in the middle. And the big bonus is Alex Filippenko, Cal astronomer, who will join us.” French instructor Bette Hirsch writes that she and her husband Joe “are on the Big Island of Hawaii, where we came on our honeymoon 38 years ago. We play a lot of tennis here and bridge and just enjoy the beauty of the beach and surroundings. We rent a condo for a month and our children and grandchildren come to vacation with us. Another exciting venture for us has been commissioning a piece by Pulitzer Prizewinning composer Kevin Puts that will be sung by Renee Fleming in Lincoln Center next November. Finally we look forward to June when we take two more grandchildren with us to France for 19 days (Paris, St Rémy, Cannes). Joe and I continue to work part-time mainly from home. Thank goodness for computers!” Jane Gregorius, one of the few people who actually turned in a questionnaire at the luncheon, also submitted a response to my later plea. “I'm not sure this is interesting to anyone,” she said, modestly. “As an artist I've begun working on a new series of print collages and I've now

finished my 28th one. I also helped organize an art show called ‘Take Aways: Art to Go,’ as a fundraiser for the Pajaro Valley Gallery in Watsonville. Over 50 artists brought in several pieces of art ‘affordably priced’ for quick sales.” The artists received their desired prices and the gallery received its percentage. At the end, she said, the sale earned $34,000, with the gallery getting a 30 percent share, or $10,200. Jane added that she and Lynda Watson are going to Italy for about a month starting May 8, with over a week in Sicily, three nights in Venice and the remainder situated in a villa in Umbria. “We'll see major ruins, beautiful sights and probably eat some of that fabulous food! We'll be meeting up with Megan Corwin who taught Metals and Jewelry at Cabrillo several years ago and her husband Mark.” Donna Mekis, who is also our luncheon speaker, said that last July she was asked to serve at the president of UCSC's Alumni Association, after having served on their board for eight years. “I am finding the work both challenging and rewarding,” she reported. “Our team has just launched an on-line platform that connects our 100,000 alumni to current students based on shared professional interests. Alumni can now serve as mentors to students as they transition from graduation to career. Many of the skills I developed in my work at Cabrillo are carrying over into this new role for me at UCSC.” Donna said she has “a beautiful three-year-old granddaughter, Beatrix, who lives in San Francisco, so I travel back and forth between Santa Cruz and San Francisco regularly. I spend time in Croatia most summers,” she added,

“and I plan to head back there again in August.” Carolie Coffey said she’s developed a one-day workshop called “Embracing
 Conversation: The Key to Empathy, Intimacy, Identity,” for Cuesta College that was presented on Feb. 20 and will be again on May 14. She hopes Cabrillo Community Extension will consider offering it. “I am also entering the teaching pool of sociologists at Cuesta College and hope to do a few sociology classes for them from time to time, along with tutoring there.”  She teaches sociology for the Central Coast Life Long Learners plus takes classes with them. “Honestly, a significant part of the true meaning of my life, beyond my beloved family, is to spend the remainder of it espousing the great significance of human interaction in the form of face-to-face conversation (in this highly digital age).  It is what makes us human.” Former Cabrillo Director of Nursing Celeste Phillips reported that in December 2014 she retired from work as consultant to hospitals wanting to develop family centered maternity programs and new clinical models. “After all, I had reached the ripe old age of 80 and felt that I had earned a little spare time to do as I wished.” She read, painted and made greeting cards. She joined the Board of Directors of the Santa Cruz Art League and began working with T. Mike Walker, another ex-Cabrillo instructor and other Art League members. Then one day in late spring Celeste received an email from the project director and hospital director at Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They were building a new hospital for mothers and babies and

wanted help to develop the nursing staff and a new clinical model for care delivery. “I told them that I retired,” Celeste said, “but they insisted on talking with me via email and telephone and then came to Santa Cruz to talk some more. As a result, I am no longer retired. I just couldn't resist the opportunity to help the Canadians develop the first comprehensive Family Centered Maternity Care program in Canada. I was challenged and accepted and now the work has begun, so bye-bye retirement. I will have to find another way to have fun. That will probably happen when I see healthy babies born in the new Royal University Hospital.” Roberta Bristol said that at 91-years old, she’s spending most of her time at home, but still enjoying yoga and meditation classes “with students who come to practice with me. They’ve become like an extended family.” She attends the monthly Family Concerts by Tandy Beal and Company plus master classes in movement and classical music. Former engineering instructor Lin Wyant chimes in about “a truly entertaining and charming book called Slow Train to Switzerland by Diccon Bewes, a British travel writer who has lived in Bern for the last eight years. It is much more than a travelogue. He discovered a journal by a Victorian woman, Jemima Morrell, who as a member of the English Junior United Alpine Club went on Thomas Cook's first group trip to Switzerland in 1863. The journal is her account of the trip. Bewes decided to follow her route as closely as possible comparing the then and now. There is much in the story about Swiss history, the Swiss character, our many

misconceptions about the country, and the effect of Cook's many later trips to Switzerland, which started a flood of British tourists and forever changed Swiss society. And, of course, the development of the railways initially planned by British engineers and only later built by the Swiss, often using Italian labor. Highly recommended (even for those who are not fascinated by trains which, incidentally, are Bewes' preferred form of travel).” And talking of books, English instructor Stan Rushworth reports that his “newish” novel Going to Water: The Journal of Beginning Rain (2014) “has attracted the attention of a local TV show called ‘Descendants of the Imagination,’ produced by Linda Janakos and hosted by John Laue. A 30-minute production on the novel and the ideas in it will be shown six times in February, I believe.” He says he’s getting some nice comments on the novel as well, plus it got him a two-week writing fellowship at the Mesa Refuge in Pt. Reyes.  Additionally, he’s working on another novel about “the indigenous (mixed bloods) side of my family. My mom passed relatively recently and sorting her stuff, I found a ‘life story’ written by my great-grandpa in 1934 (but born in 1852) that’s really rich, riding with the Texas Rangers and the like. I’d never seen any of this stuff, nor had I heard the tales. What a find! There's also a family tree going back to the early 1700s, with many choice tidbits to relish and develop. We'll see what happens.” Additionally, Dena Taylor has just written a book with her daughter Becky, who has cerebral palsy. It's called Tell Me the Number Before Infinity: The story of a girl with a quirky mind, an eccentric family, and oh yes, a disability, and was

published by Many Names Press. The book consists of interwoven chapters, told from two distinct perspectives, and has been described as honest, poignant, and funny. Their first book-signing will be at Bookshop Santa Cruz on March 21. Meanwhile, in a similar vein, Nancy Andreasen explained that “because it has been 25 years since I retired, of course I have done a lot of things, but my most current effort is trying to finish the book I am writing. It is a biography of my great(multiple times)-grandmother, born in 1642 in Rhode Island, who married, had six children, and became a Quaker minister, traveling to Pennsylvania and Barbados to preach. She died at 85–a very old lady for those times.  My daughter and I have made two trips to Rhode Island to explore her terrain and to read in the ancient archives. I have committed to having the book (self) published and ready for our book club to read in November, so I believe the end is in sight, although there is a lot to do between now and then—foot-noting, graphic layout, proofing, etc. It’s all been fun. This is the third book I will have self-published. The other two were picture books of gardens, mine and a neighbor’s, using my own photos and text. I find it all fascinating, but enjoy the research and the graphic layout the most.” Among recommendations for reading books and other entertainment, Roberta suggested All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, which has made our list several times, plus Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese, another frequently mentioned book. Robley Levy touted Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life, by William Finnegan, whom she notes is a UCSC grad and New Yorker writer. Dan

Harper says Old Filth by Jane Gardam is a good book. It’s the first part of a trilogy about a retired judge, recounting his life, “his career and marriage and encapsulating a large part of the 20th century,” according to one review. And Mary Ellen Sullivan promotes Euphoria by Lily King, a fictionalized story about Margaret Mead. “A great read,” she says. Also, Jane Gregorius thinks attending Jewel Theatre productions is a good way to see fine shows, an idea I strongly support as well. Accolades are due to several of our retirees: Dave McGuire, who served in the Marine Corps and was wounded in the Korean War, was among veterans honored with a special freedom medal in thanks for their service by Congressman Sam Farr and the Council General of South Korea during a recent ceremony at California State University Monterey Bay.

Dave McGuire received a special freedom medal for his service in the Korean War.

And in the inaugural Cabrillo College Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on Jan. 23, retirees football coach Joe Marvin, basketball coach Bob Bugalski, volleyball coach and Olympian Jane Ward, and softball and football coach Gene Johnson were recognized for “outstanding character in their community, as well as their stellar contributions to their teams.” Part of the evening event was also spent honoring Cabrillo’s first football coach, Larry Simmering and members of the 1959-1960 team. And a few days later, former Cabrillo wrestling, softball and football coach Pat Lovell was honored by with the Central Coast (Athletes) Section’s Distinguished Service Award for his work as a commissioner of the Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League for 27 years. According to the CCS, the award is reserved for “truly outstanding individuals who have made personal and professional sacrifices in order to promote, develop and positively influence interscholastic athletics.” Now as we come to the end of this column, we likewise recount those whose lives have also come to an end. Beatrice E. Fitzbuck, who spent much of her life in nursing, died on Dec. 22 at the age of 92. She was director of nurses at Santa Cruz Community Hospital in the late ‘60s and served as coordinator for the Heart Association’s coronary care classes for nurses at Cabrillo, the first continuing education available to nurses in the Santa Cruz area at that time. Rod Lundquist taught English at Cabrillo, for 18 years, plus served as English Department chairman for two years. He died Jan. 8 at the age of 81. Rod came from Lincoln High School in San Francisco where he

was a championship swimmer. He was also a renowned big wave surfer in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, using large, heavy boards, the only ones around, and no wetsuits. An accomplished classical guitarist, after retiring he developed a fondness for hang-gliding. He often took long flights carrying his dog with him. Steve Hanley, who taught English, literature, writing and film appreciation at Cabrillo for 35 years, died on Jan. 26, at the age of 78. He served two years in the Navy, taught English, swimming and soccer at the Webb School in Claremont, and then moved to Aptos when he started work at Cabrillo. After retiring, Steve played music, substitute taught, body surfed and took care of his four children with his second wife. Two other people, associated with Cabrillo through spouses and social activities, have also passed away. Many folks may know Sue Lundquist through her 15 years as administrative assistant to former Cabrillo presidents Bob Swenson and John Petersen at the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. The wife of retired English instructor Dick Lundquist, Sue was known as a fun-loving, devoted mother of their four children, a fabulous conversationalist, active in the Cabrillo community through book clubs, exercise groups, and the Ukulele Club of Santa Cruz. The family took major trips across the United States, Mexico and Guatemala in their 1971 VW camper. Sue had a dazzling smile and a presence that could brighten a room. She died of cancer on Dec. 27 at the age of 81. Virginia Coe lost her husband, John Orlando, on Jan. 28, of cancer at the age of 66. John (no relation to the Cabrillo music instructor of

the same name) was well known in the local community as a fireman in the Central Fire District for 27 years, 25 of them as captain. He attended many Cabrillo functions, often serving as barbecue chef extraordinaire and jovial greeter to all. After retiring from firefighting, he began a second career as a commercial fisherman. He liked being outdoors and was a skilled hunter, as well as restorer of antiques and classic automobiles. Besides his wife, he leaves a daughter and son. Our sympathies and condolences go out to the families and friends of all those who have left us. And wishes for good health for all of us.

known for its unassailable temperament and speed. It was English as he was, which accounted for the small English burr that found its way into all he said. I was deeply envious of his Norton. He came to college on it most mornings, parking it in the lot behind the 400 building. I had given up motorcycles when my wife and I had our two children. But Steve continued riding, though he eventually had six children. After we had both retired, we bumped into each other in various coffee shops. Greetings were always hearty and happy; we chatted about our lives, our children and life in the slow lane.

A Tribute to Steve by Dan Harper Steve Hanley was a friend. We didn't always agree but he was always generous with me, especially when we disagreed. I saw a lot of Steve when I was English Division Chair, first in the 1970s and then again in the late 80s. Sometimes our disagreements were minor, sometimes they were substantial. But we always ended our discussions by shaking hands and looking into the eyes of a friend.  My first memory of Steve was in the early ‘70s; both of us were young and Steve came to the college on a large black Norton motorcycle, a beautiful machine,

Steve Hanley with his wife Gerry and son.

Cabrillo Retired Faculty luncheon at 11:30, Friday, April 8, at Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel IMPORTANT: Please respond by April 1 at the latest! Yes/I (we) are planning to attend. Please reserve _____ space(s) in the name(s) of:

________________________________________________________________________ I have enclosed @ $24 per person $______________(beer, wine, mixed drinks will be available on sale) Indicate the meal you (and your guests) want: _____1) Pasta Primavera with a side of house salad _____2) Michael’s House Salad with Grilled Chicken Mixed baby greens, locally farmed apples dried cranberries, Point Reyes bleucheese and spiced pecans tossed with our homemade tarragon vinaigrette with Grilled Chicken

_____3) Kobe Beef Burger Grilled Kobe beef served on a hamburger bun with lettuce, tomato, crispy shoestring onions and pickle. Cooked medium Choice of side salad or fries Cookies for dessert and an iced-tea, lemonade and coffee station

Send this form along with a check payable to Roberta Bristol and mail to Roberta Bristol, 9ll Balboa Ave., Capitola, CA 95010. If you have questions, call her at 476-8337. Please note: PayPal is no longer available.