John Williams

       My life in Stockton has been roughly divided into thirds: the first as a teacher at Raymond, the second as a teacher in the English department at COP, and the final third is my current retirement. Retirement has thus far been equally rewarding to the first two parts, perhaps even more rewarding.

      I continue to read widely - American history, politics, international relations, especially about the Near East, the Islamic world, Israel, and Palestine. I also read fiction as always, but not the extent when I was teaching. I have continued to reread Faulkner and have discovered in retirement Cormac McCarthy and rediscovered Philip Roth. But increasingly Janet's and my life rotates around our family, our three sons and wonderful daughters-in-law, and our five grand daughters and two grand sons who variously play soccer, football, baseball, run track and cross-country, sing, dance, play the piano, and act in the theater. They keep us on the road most weekends between San Mateo, Fair Oaks, and Stockton. See the photo of grandpa and the grand kids.

    For the past 45 years since coming to Stockton, I have had a most meaningful hobby - woodworking. I cannot begin to list all the pieces of furniture I've built over the years, but suffice it to say: everyone in our family sleeps in a bed I've made, puts their socks and underwear in dressers I've made, eats at tables, places their magazines and feet on coffee tables, sits on platform rockers, installs their books on bookshelves, puts their stereos and televisions in cabinets I've made. The grandkids when babies were all rocked in cradles, rode rocking horses, and ate in high chairs I've made. Everyone's bathroom has vanities, cabinets, and fixtures I've made. And nearly all the furniture, kitchen and other cabinets, stereo-television cabinets, beds, etc. in our family cabin in Arnold consists of my handiwork. The joy of making things can only be compared to my joy of being in the classroom - learning with and teaching the many students remembered and forgotten.

     I've always taken my scholarship seriously, am proud of the handful of essays I've published on Faulkner, Sartre, Dostoevsky, and Jerzy Konsinski. But I suspect that the things I've produced in my shop will far out last my scholarship. Hence, I thought the Raymond Alums might enjoy seeing some of my handiwork--not the furniture or cabinets which after all look like countless other pieces of furniture or cabinets, but the wooden toys I've made over the years for our two grandsons. I've displayed the pictures of the various pieces in the order in which they were crafted to show the increasing complexity of them.

*John Williams, Professor Emeritus*
My life in Stockton has been roughly divided into thirds: the first as a teacher at Raymond, the second as a teacher in the English department at COP, and the final third is my current retirement. Retirement has thus far been equally rewarding to the first two parts, perhaps even more rewarding. I continue to read widely - American history, politics, international relations, especially about the Near East, the Islamic world, Israel, and Palestine. I also read fiction as always, but not the extent when I was teaching. I have continued to reread Faulkner and have discovered in retirement Cormac McCarthy and rediscovered Philip Roth. But increasingly Janet's and my life rotates around our family, our three sons and wonderful daughters-in-law, and our five grand daughters and two grand sons who variously play soccer, football, baseball, run track and cross-country, sing, dance, play the piano, and act in the theater. They keep us on the road most weekends between San Mateo, Fair Oaks, and Stockton. See the photo of grandpa and the grand kids. For the past 45 years since coming to Stockton, I have had a most meaningful hobby - woodworking. I cannot begin to list all the pieces of furniture I've built over the years, but suffice it to say: everyone in our family sleeps in a bed I've made, puts their socks and underwear in dressers I've made, eats at tables, places their magazines and feet on coffee tables, sits on platform rockers, installs their books on bookshelves, puts their stereos and televisions in cabinets I've made. The grandkids when babies were all rocked in cradles, rode rocking horses, and ate in high chairs I've made. Everyone's bathroom has vanities, cabinets, and fixtures I've made. And nearly all the furniture, kitchen and other cabinets, stereo-television cabinets, beds, etc. in our family cabin in Arnold consists of my handiwork. The joy of making things can only be compared to my joy of being in the classroom - learning with and teaching the many students remembered and forgotten. I've always taken my scholarship seriously, am proud of the handful of essays I've published on Faulkner, Sartre, Dostoevsky, and Jerzy Konsinski. But I suspect that the things I've produced in my shop will far out last my scholarship. Hence, I thought the Raymond Alums might enjoy seeing some of my handiwork--not the furniture or cabinets which after all look like countless other pieces of furniture or cabinets, but the wooden toys I've made over the years for our two grandsons. I've displayed the pictures of the various pieces in the order in which they were crafted to show the increasing complexity of them.
The Wonderful, Wooden Toys of Professor John Williams