St. Louis Park High School Class of 65

(Perhaps what follows should have seen tighter editing, but I've been under the radar for so long, the special occasion of our 50th reunion makes me want to open up).

Like a lot of guys who weren't eager to go into the army after high school, I went to the U.of.M. In a way it was just an extension of high school, as I lived at home and rode a city bus to campus. I did play some lead guitar in a garage band for a while in college, but never got caught up in that lifestyle and managed to survive the sixties relatively unscathed.

I studied physics, which mostly means I sat through a lot of math and science courses. But it was the mandatory electives - courses in humanities, philosophy and economics - that had the greatest long term hold on me. Not wanting to be drafted out of grad school, I took what in retrospect was the inexplicable step of asking the Army recruitment office whether they would accept me into officer school if I got drafted. As it worked out, I flunked the physical on account of poor vision, and was reclassified as 4F. I can't say I was very disappointed. I went on to graduate school at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy, NY, where during my first year there, I met my future wife, Debbie, who has remained my love and steady companion in the intervening 44 years.

At RPI, I studied plasma physics for three years, eventually coming to the realization that I didn't have either the brains or the imagination to be the one to figure out how to harness the energy of the sun's internal fusion cycle to generate electrical power - which was probably a good call, as none one else did, and we still don't have that technology today. In my third year, my thesis advisor left RPI, I was now a married man, and it seemed like a good time to change careers into something more financially viable. So I got a second masters degree in Electric Power Engineering.

This led to a career at GE, in Schenectady, NY. I spent the next forty years immersed in the design and development of power generation equipment, which I enjoyed enough to carry me through to retirement. None of this work involved earth shattering breakthroughs like iPads, MRI's, or driverless cars, but it did allow me to work closely with a lot of smart folks at the GE research center who did a lot of the work that enabled such technologies. As for me, I did my part in keeping the country largely free of blackouts.

One convenient aspect of my work at GE was that it gave me ample opportunities to travel to many places in Europe and farther reaches like Japan and South Africa. This came with a flexibility to tack on a few vacation days to ski, hike, and bike in the Alps, to experience the world's great cities, and to take a safari through Kruger Park, a large game preserve in Africa (no big game were harmed and I did all my shooting with a camera).

My wife Debbie spent the greater part of her working life teaching thermodynamics and heat transfer at RPI. Our commutes were reasonable, as we built a home midway between Schenectady and Troy. Debbie and I have two daughters, one who found her way into web page development in Maryland. The other joined Navy ROTC at UCLA. Happily the closest she came to seeing combat was an aircraft carrier cruise to Oahu. We have the good fortune of both girls living with us again and we see little near term prospect of us becoming empty nesters.

In retirement, Debbie, took up writing and just published her first novel Damian's Workshop (which is available in several formats on both Amazon and iTunes (http://www.amazon.com/Damians-Workshop-Deborah-Kaminski-ebook/dp/B00SSJXBEW/). She let me do the drawings for the spline, front and back covers, but the pages in between are a good deal more captivating, and she has found herself a growing and enthusiastic fan base, which she hopes to nourish with a second novel.

If you remember me at all, you carry the image of a headstrong, conservative Republican Catholic, who was not particularly in tune with the mood of the sixties. A common maxim is that one acquires a more conservative outlook as one ages, and I admit to picturing many of you that way. And so it may come as unwelcome news that I now describe myself as having moved very much in the other direction - and now express a deep concern with climate change, income inequality, oppression of minorities, gender discrimination in its various forms, and intolerance of diverse religious beliefs (to the extent they themselves express a willingness to be tolerant). But hey, a lot happened in the last fifty years.

I would hope that we can all name teachers who had a significant impact on us. I have the good fortune of being able to name several. For me, the most influential had been Ann Isacson. Her pass-fail approach to teaching grammar was the motivation I needed to get a good grasp of it. My mother, being foreign born, had decided that English grammar was unlearnable and had done her best to saddle me with the same bias, and I thank Miss Isacson for convincing me otherwise. Though naturally left handed, I had always been "encouraged" to write with the right, and the result was that my penmanship could easily be mistaken for a cypher. Miss Isacson had the kindly prescience to tell me that I had little hope of making it through college without first learning how to type and encouraged me to take a typing course in my senior year.

I should mention the positive impact of other notable teachers: Charles Zielen - his world history class did a lot to widen my view of the world. Lyle Rahn - earlier this year, thanks to the exposure to electronics I got from him, I took apart and fixed our kitchen microwave and dishwasher. Other memorable teachers come to mind, but I should leave that for another time...

I'm sorry to say I will not be able to attend the reunion. We had such a large graduating class and most of you will not remember me well enough to be disappointed. For the fractional remainder, I will say that, although I continue to lead a quiet life, free of most social media, I would be happy to hear from you. The best way to reach me is via email at CAKpost@gmail.com.

07/27/2105  - In consideration of the upcoming 50 year class reunion I thought I should jump on my profile and do some updating.  Since April last year, I have been coaxed out of full time retirement to plug back into my career and accept a position with some former partners.  My wife of nearly 40 years, Deb, wants to keep working for another three years so I figured, “Why not!?”   Our two beautiful daughters, Lindsey and Dana are doing well as are the two grand daughters.  Also, we are now anxiously awaiting the arrival of our first grand son this Fall.  Life is good and we are blessed with good health and friends.  Looking forward to re-connecting with old friends this summer.