In the late 1970's, when I was in my late 20's, I met a remarkable man. John Waskom was an enigmatic sort: tallish, somewhat gruff-looking, black hair with silver streaks, slicked back like a figure from the 1940's. His accent was Louisiana and Deep South. Added all together, he presented a visual and auditory image of a slow, sullen, and simple man. But his manner was careful, as were his words, which were sometimes humorous and almost always penetrating. The school dropout who became a Ph.D. The angry young man who ran from his psychologist father -- and later bested the old man in insight on human behavior, even though his chosen field was geology!

I became John's protégé from a distance, absorbing his ideas and practically memorizing his talks that wove together the math and physics of the cosmos with Why-didn't-I-think-of-that? applications to child-rearing. Even the titles were intriguing: The Magic of Life, The Sex Life of Rocks. Then I began adding my own insights, and I accompanied him often to give weekend workshops for parents and teachers. But we were only two in a spiritual network, and our paths diverged after a few years. Living in New England in the 1980's, I heard of his untimely death.

He had never gotten around to writing his book, and his family did not seem to be getting around to it either, so in the late 1980's I asked for his tapes and notes, and his widow Sara graciously loaned them to me for several months. I organized the work into charts and theories and self-published a small book, which all of about a dozen people ever read. Later, in the publish-or-perish world of university employment, I had two successes in getting John's ideas into journal publication: Design and Development of Wholeness: Waskom's Paradigm (in The Educational Forum) and Moral Development: the Experiential Perspective (in Journal of Moral Education). I got requests for reprints from a few professors in the U.S. and about 20 from Yugoslavia, France, Israel, Cuba, Poland, and elsewhere!

You may ask, "Did John Waskom practice what he preached?" Yes, indeed he did. He and Sara had five children: four boys and the youngest a girl. And I can testify that I have never met young people with more poise, assurance, and humility. They even exhibited a fair amount of grace passing through their terrible teens, thanks to John.

Anyway, after some years of sitting in a closet on sheets of paper and computer disks, here's your book, John. I won't always be specific about which ideas are yours, which ones I had to modify, and which ones are mine. That's not what is important here. But if you're still interested, help me get this distributed to the world you were so determined to help: the world of parents and teachers, the world of today and tomorrow.

I also wish to acknowledge others who contributed to this endeavor: my wife Sierra, who shared her genius in the parenting process; Martin Exeter, who inspired understanding of human design and purpose; and my parents, who provided me with a firm foundation and (unknowingly) a lifetime supply of questions about humanness.

NR / June 30, 1995 - [email protected]

Next Page Table of Contents Read/download the book as a PDF file

Hosted by www.Geocities.ws

THE DESIGN OF LIFE

TABLE OF CONTENTS