AC_1965_Web

23 AN T I OC H CO L L E G E C L A S S O F 19 6 5 5 0 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y B O O K A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z C A R L O N E CARLONE PAT Lois and Pat. THEN AND NOW 4 B.A. Philosophy FAMI LY 4 Wife, Lois 4 Son, Teo 4 Two daughters, Kelly and Nikki 4 Five grandchildren ADDRESS 4 P.O. Box 233 San Geronimo, CA 94963 CONTACT 415 488-4033 pcarlone@hotmail.com W H E N I C A M E to Antioch I fig- ured I had a handle on things. I had been interested in chemistry since 5th grade, so I knew where I was going, or so I thought. But there was that background whisper, that fantasizing about sheep farming in New Zealand (from an article in Life Magazine ), and also a fascination with mountains (although there were no mountains in Connecticut). So I should have suspected that the ride would not be a smooth one. With mountains on my mind, chemistry led to geology and my first co-op job in the geology de- partment at the Chicago Museum of Natural History.The wheels, how- ever, continued to wobble, creat- ing abrupt shifts in direction, point- ing me to oceanography in Seattle and to monastery living in Arkansas, where for two weeks I got as close to sheep farming as working on a chicken ranch.At some point history became a draw, but Louie Filler shot that down when he said to me,“Do you mind if we keep some dignity in the department?” One morning, sit- ting on the back campus waiting for a class, I helped administer aid to a young child who had fallen out of a moving car, so for about two weeks I was pre-med. Emerging from the caf- eteria one evening, I trailed behind three 5th year students,enthralled by their discussion on entropy, and so for a brief period I once again imag- ined myself a chemist, or maybe a physicist.With time running out, and hoping to graduate with my class, I found salvation in philosophy, some- how overcoming the doubt and res- ervation of both George Geiger and Keith McGary. Graduate school (in Social Work, and then in Teaching of the Social Sciences) brought no relief from my lack of direction, so af- ter two years I became dissatisfied with all of it, dropped out, and em- barked with wife and newborn to Oakland, California, where, after an unsuccessful attempt as Fuller Brush salesman, I became a mail carrier for the post office, and for two bliss- ful years enthusiastically pursued my new career.Then one night Carl Putz showed up and in my kitchen proceeded to describe the process of a point moving along a curve to a fixed point, and, Holy Toledo!, I dis- covered mathematics! The pull was inescapable, and soon I was on my way to a major in mathematics at Cal State Hayward. After completing work for my major, I considered continuing on to graduate school. However, my pursuit of a graduate degree in mathematics abruptly ended when my mother-in-law, having discov- ered that my three closest friends, Weierstrass, Cantor, and Dedekind, were very long deceased mathema- ticians, vocally wondered how I in- tended to support my family. So I became a math teacher, beginning with 7th graders and eventually cul- minating at a local community col- lege, from which I ended my teach- ing last year.Today I tutor a few high school students in mathematics and, unable to break completely with my passion for mail, work one morning a week at my local post office. So, how does Antioch factor into the way my life has turned out?Well, it’s hard for me to imagine there would have been a smooth passage at any college I had gone to; my feet were well off the ground, regardless, and I doubt any college could have changed that.What I think Antioch did for me, and for us, and maybe this is what is unique about it and why we are so bonded to it, is that we were made to feel OK about who we were, regardless of our dispositions, groundedness, or lack thereof.The college was on our side and in our corner, and gave us a sim- ple message of encouragement that things would turn out OK.And who better embodied that message than J.D.? I suspect he very well could see I didn’t have a clue as to which end was up, but by the very real way