FORD IN A BLOG... |
FORD BURKHART Live in Montclair, N.J., 12 miles west of Times Square. Work at the NY Times, mostly on the Foreign Desk, with some expertise in Arabic language and style, and in the Middle East. We also have a house in Tucson, near Roskruge Junior High, where my wife Carolyn winters and helps care for my mother, Dorothy Burkhart, who is at Cypress Court, an excellent assisted living center at Swan near River Road. (We should all make reservations now for Cypress Court and have TGIF parties; they have memory care, which we will all need when we forget punch lines and each others' names.) Travels: Lots. Peace Corps in Malaysia, 1967-69; lived in a Chinese village. With the AP to China, in 1973. Then, as a journalism prof from 76 to 96, I spent a Fulbright year in Jos, Nigeria, in 1979-80; and another in Uganda, 1993-94. Two years at American University in Cairo, 1983-85. And a chilling two weeks in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, in 1996, training midcareer journalists, in January/February -- not the best season for weather, which ran to 20 below. FAMILY: My mother, Dorothy, is fine for almost 92. Wife Carolyn writes books on the Southwest (buy "West of Paradise," her best yet, on southeast corner of the state). We have an African 'son' who adopted us in Uganda, and enjoy our e-mail relationship with Walakira Godfrey. If you are going to Kampala, be sure to visit him; he's a fascinating young man, now an auditor and entrepreneur. EDUCATION AND CAREER: I got a Ph.D. in public administration, just for fun, at ASU in 1992. It forces you to read and think systematically about politics and government (you'll never take anything they say at face value again). An M.A. at Stanford in mass comm. research; B.A. at Arizona, double major in history and journalism. I am proud of three years as chair of the Fulbright selection committee for central and southern Africa, ending last year. And of two years as associate dean of Arts and Sciences at the UA -- I think I helped move the place along toward a reorganization that has helped modernize the place into separate colleges. OPINIONS/PASSIONS: Politics? Increasingly skeptical about all of it. Great passion: doing something about global warming and loss of species (biodiversity is the 50 cent word). We just must do more, soon, to reverse our harm to our home -- the planet. AVOCATIONS: Sports? Try to get to the Y 3 or 4 times a week, to run 2 miles, do the circuits, a little basketball. Hobby? Sailing the Hudson the last 8 years. Now, being my own little "This Old House", reworking every corner of a 1917 house in Montclair (plumbing, electric, etc.) Happiness is having a new tool. STORY: See the 9/11 story in Ray's story box. And one source of pleasure is Ray's fabulous CHS 1959 Web site; we owe him a big debt of gratitude. Thanks, Ray. RELATED SITES: Ford's wife, Carolyn Neithammer's site, click here. New York Times, click here. |
CLASS OF |
Catalina High School, Tucson, Arizona, USA |
FORD BURKHART Live in Montclair, N.J., 12 miles west of Times Square. Work at the NY Times, mostly on the Foreign Desk, with some expertise in Arabic language and style, and in the Middle East. We also have a house in Tucson, near Roskruge Junior High, where my wife Carolyn winters and helps care for my mother, Dorothy Burkhart, who is at Cypress Court, an excellent assisted living center at Swan near River Road. (We should all make reservations now for Cypress Court and have TGIF parties; they have memory care, which we will all need when we forget punch lines and each others' names.) Travels: Lots. Peace Corps in Malaysia, 1967-69; lived in a Chinese village. With the AP to China, in 1973. Then, as a journalism prof from 76 to 96, I spent a Fulbright year in Jos, Nigeria, in 1979-80; and another in Uganda, 1993-94. Two years at American University in Cairo, 1983-85. And a chilling two weeks in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, in 1996, training midcareer journalists, in January/February -- not the best season for weather, which ran to 20 below. FAMILY: My mother, Dorothy, is fine for almost 92. Wife Carolyn writes books on the Southwest (buy "West of Paradise," her best yet, on southeast corner of the state). We have an African 'son' who adopted us in Uganda, and enjoy our e-mail relationship with Walakira Godfrey. If you are going to Kampala, be sure to visit him; he's a fascinating young man, now an auditor and entrepreneur. EDUCATION AND CAREER: I got a Ph.D. in public administration, just for fun, at ASU in 1992. It forces you to read and think systematically about politics and government (you'll never take anything they say at face value again). An M.A. at Stanford in mass comm. research; B.A. at Arizona, double major in history and journalism. I am proud of three years as chair of the Fulbright selection committee for central and southern Africa, ending last year. And of two years as associate dean of Arts and Sciences at the UA -- I think I helped move the place along toward a reorganization that has helped modernize the place into separate colleges. OPINIONS/PASSIONS: Politics? Increasingly skeptical about all of it. Great passion: doing something about global warming and loss of species (biodiversity is the 50 cent word). We just must do more, soon, to reverse our harm to our home -- the planet. AVOCATIONS: Sports? Try to get to the Y 3 or 4 times a week, to run 2 miles, do the circuits, a little basketball. Hobby? Sailing the Hudson the last 8 years. Now, being my own little "This Old House", reworking every corner of a 1917 house in Montclair (plumbing, electric, etc.) Happiness is having a new tool. STORY: See the 9/11 story in Ray's story box. And one source of pleasure is Ray's fabulous CHS 1959 Web site; we owe him a big debt of gratitude. Thanks, Ray. RELATED SITES: Ford's wife, Carolyn Neithammer's site, click here. New York Times, click here. |
Hey, look, the New York Times was the best I could do...they just didn't have any openings at the Tucson Weekly. |
FORD IN A BLOG... |
