John Smith

I came to Raymond College in 1970, after teaching three years at the University of Wyoming. For a young professor interested in innovation and experimentation, this was the best of all possible moves. I still feel that way about my good fortune in becoming a member of the Raymond faculty. In 1977 I became the associate dean of the newly-formed Raymond-Callison College. Although that venture was short lived, it was exciting, and the faculty and alumni of Ray-Cal had a great reunion in 1999. In 1978 I joined the English Department of College of the Pacific. In those days the department and the college as a whole were pretty conventional, but the influences of Raymond and Callison continued to be strong in that traditional setting. From my perspective, the major heritage of Raymond College endures in the General Education Program of the University. This is one of the best general education or liberal learning programs in the country, and several of the former faculty of Raymond and Callison helped design the program and taught in its core courses. During my last three years before retiring in 1999 I had the pleasure of serving as the first all-university director of general education. And, thanks to an endowment from the Raymond Associates, there are annual prizes for students who have done excellent work in the general education seminars. The Phoenix still flies.

Patricia and I enjoy our life in Saddlebrooke, a retirement community just northwest of Tucson. We spin and we lap swim, we take courses, we read and watch films and take part in our Saddlebrooke Democratic Club. We do some volunteer work and we socialize with other residents. Through Facebook we (primarily Patricia) stay in touch with lots of family and friends including Raymond folk. We can be found there as John Patricia. We are accessible, too, through e-mail, and we respond responsibly.

For both Patricia and me, Raymond College is an essential living experience. Without it our histories would be greatly different; with it, our quotidian lives are richer. Even though it's not possible for me to attend the reunion, everyone who's interested can know certainly that Patricia and I still cherish much of our respective Raymond histories, and we continue to feel connected and interested in loads of folks from that extraordinary era.

John Smith and Patricia Fremont Smith

63615 East Desert Highland Drive
Tucson, Arizona 85739

520-818-1332

fresmith@wbhsi.net