"When dawn spreads its paintbrush on the plain, spilling purple... ," Sons of the Pioneers theme for TV show "Wagon Train." Dawn on the mythic Santa Fe Trail, New Mexico, looking toward Raton from Cimarron. -- Clarkphoto. A curmudgeon artist's musings melding metaphors and journalism, for readers in more than 150 countries.

Sunday, May 3, 2009

May 3.

The death of journalism? Or new life? Who knows...having conducted my last faculty meeting Friday in 19 years as chair, I show a pix of me at with faculty in fall 1990...now I'm old "seasoned" as they say). We viewed Did you Know from You Tube, and a section from TED on creativity. Our meetings, curse them all, are always about red tape and paperwork and regulations and policies, and never about what we're supposed to do best...teaching. The highlights of my career...my students and friends. Great article about me in last issue of Vista by Kory Oswald....look it up at Vista online. His descirption of me is dead on. "Clark looks like he could be your grandfather, or drinking buddy, or both." I'll drink to that.

Sunday is church with the New York Times. sitting on a leather couch with Crystal the cat in my lap, reading, sipping coffee, eating oatmeal, watching the rain come down outside. and facebook with friends like Farsooth Razak in NYC, or listing to Richard Mize's redneck rantings.

Aug. 1 I will be out as chair, and heading for just teaching, and running Journalism Hall of Fame, and watercolor painting, and writing and research....long suppressed by the red tape of administrative duties.

I'm keeping a journal of "The last Time" of this year, the last time I'll do a schedule, I'll attend meetings, etc.

None of this may seem interesting, unless you're itnerested in the insides of higher education, yet, but I assure you it will.

I ceased my Coffee with Clark radio program years ago, but this is the successor....It'll be worth your reading please.

So this is all off the cuff...let me hear from you.

Ursa the professa

4 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Love it! Can't wait for the next post. It's been a privilege being a student, knowing and working for you for the last 18 years! Thank you for making me a better person/teacher. You'll never know how important a person you have been in my life. Thanks falls so short of what I would like to express.
    Joey Niebrugge

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  3. What I posted on Vista Online (shame on you for not making it a hyperlink and causing me to look up through Google):

    "Dr. Clark is true to his word...he taught passionately and brought the passion for communicating out in me. The picture i took with him at my graduation in 2001 still sits on my desk. He doesn't know it, but seek his silent council quite often. "What would Dr. Clark say/do/write?" As a university professor, I try with each student in every class to emulate his style and wisdom. hopefully one day, I will succeed."

    Looking forward to more Coffee with Clark.

    Lauren Vargas
    Communicators Anonymous
    http://12commanonymous.typepad.com/

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  4. Let me some timeses and gasentas ... this means that you were about my age now (45) when you were tryin' to boss me around at the O'Colly back then. Sheeeit.

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