A JOURNEY - A BOOK
A MOUNTAIN OF MEMORIES - LIFETIMES FULFILLED
HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE
This is NOT the book. This website contains over 300 images, most which are my own. After finishing a chapter in the book, we encourage the reader to view the images dedicated to that chapter. Every chapter has unique photographs that provide a complementary visual dimension as nothing else can. As much as possible, we've tried to bring people and events of each chapter "to life." ENJOY!
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THE BOOK
This is a book that anyone can enjoy. Indeed, all who read it will learn something they never knew before. A Boomer's memoir about a life journey, Blind Date begins in Denver and follows a teaching career that ends at a Montana Tribal College on the Flathead Indian Reservation. It is filled with the wonders of a gentle and enduring love, travel, skydiving, even Indian history & culture. It is a powerful memoir that will genuinely resonate with readers.
WHO WILL ENJOY IT
Anyone who: loves to travel; is a real or imagined teacher; finds interest in difficult father-son dynamics; likes railroads; enjoys skiing; wonders what it's like to skydive or fly a plane; is a boomer at heart; finds an interest in Flathead Indian history and culture; enjoys a woman's perspective; thrives on adventure.
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COVER PHOTOGRAPH
The magnificent Mission Mountains form the eastern boundary of the Flathead Nation. The image was taken near the town of Ronan, in northwestern Montana's Mission Valley, near the place we called home until recently retiring. The "Dupuis Barn" was built about 1915, the year my father was born and has maintained an iconic presence ever since. The cover title and photo are the symbolic beginning and end of Joyce and my wonderful journey together that occupies the pages of this memoir. The website is chock full of old, new, remarkable, even stunning photographs that wonderfully complement the book. For more on the photography please click on CHAPTERS for an overview.
A FEW POINTS TO PONDER
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Can intense physical and emotional abuse become a motivational factor?
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How does a blind date at 17 lead to more than 50 years of devotion?
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Is the thrill of skydiving a worthy endeavor? How about learning to fly?
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Could holding a person accountable for sexual harassment, when no laws exist, be justified?
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In what ways is teaching college on a reservation different?
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Have Indian Treaties and Reservations lost their relevance?
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Do Indian lives matter?
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Can lack of forgiveness be forgiven?
EXCERPTS:
"I decided to go visit the [ice] rink and watch. I was walking through the union building and caught a glimpse of her through huge glass windows. I couldn't keep my eyes off her. Still walking, I quickly turned to go outside when...BAM! Shocked, I wondered why I was suddenly on the floor...and why my head hurt? I got up on my knees and reached for my forehead. Blood! Dripping down my nose...!"
A Wife's Reflections: "The trip back west to Arizona started out eventful to say the least. As we were driving through Chicago, Bill and I got separated. I was a few cars behind him, and I saw a U-Haul truck pull in the right hand lane and turn off on another highway. So I followed. Unfortunately it wasn't our U-Haul that I had seen. When I realized it, I circled back and returned to the original highway. By then I didn't see our U-Haul at all..."
"I had my heart sink one day, lecturing in zoology, I thought I could excite my students by bringing in the old skeleton from the storeroom. I had an astonishing and immediate revolt! Nearly every student tore out of the room without saying a word and I was left alone with my monstrous mistake..."
Stock photo
A Wife's Reflections: "On Memorial Day of that year, he entered a parachute competition at the Air Force Academy. I remember receiving that call from the Academy and how distraught I was to learn he was injured in an accident during the competition. We only had one car and Bill had taken it to the competition so I had to call our landlord and ask them if they would take me to the Academy to get the car and immediately go to the hospital where he had been taken..."
"Consider that we have been among Indians for more than 500 years. Is it not possible to help preserve such a splendid and enduring way of life for 500 more? White ignorance need not prevail if folks like us will share real experiences that bring Indians out of the trivial past and into the consequential present. Hopefully, readers will understand they deserve nothing less.
Carlisle Indian School (National Archives)
"To love and be loved is a cliche of some merit here. Joyce and I were married as teenagers and began a life that was supposedly doomed from the beginning. But hard work, respect and mountains of love saw us through thick and thin, rough times and wonderful times, sad times. It is still true that when I look at Joyce I will forever see that lovely young girl that blew me away on a blind date..."
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ABOUT US
As of March 1, Joyce and I will have been married 57 years. We like this photograph because it was taken at Glacier Park Inn, Hungry Horse, Montana (huckleberry capital of the world) while we were still very active in our careers. We preferred a sort of street clothes version, rather than the stuffy studio kind.
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Although we both have advanced degrees, we still think of ourselves as simply Bill and Joyce. Boasting just isn't our thing. The book documents--as accurately and honestly as possible--the major personal and family events, activities, educational efforts, and the many follies of a boy and girl that fell in love after a blind date, to the birth of two beautiful daughters, to the joys of living and working on two Indian Reservations.